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MOKO. 



THE 



History of My Friends 



OR 



Home Life with Animals 



TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH OF EMILE.ACHARD 

ILLUSTRATED 



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NEW YORK 
G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS, PUBLISHERS 

FOURTH AVE. AND TWENTY-THIRD ST 

1875 



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Copyright, 

G. P. PUT]!^AM'S SONS, 

1875. 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 

Moko 5 

Tiger 15 

Marian and Mirza 28 

Coco and Marquis 41 

Jack 55 

Jeannot 69 

Friquet 84 

Miss Nina 99 

Biscotte and Bijou 1 10 

Perette 123 

Tambour 134 

Hunter and Ralph 145 

Cossack 162 

Matapon the First 180 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



PAGE 

Moko 5 

Tiger , 1 8 

Marian and Mirza 31 

Coco and Marquis 48 

Jack 61 

Jeannot 79 

Friquet 97 

Miss Nina 102 

Tambour 140 

JIunter and Ralph 151 

Cossack 162 

Matapon the First 182 



HISTORY 



OF 



My Friends 



They were only animals. My memory of them 
is mingled with that of many scratches and bites ; 
but they possessed some qualities which I should 
be glad to find more widely diffused among human 
beings whom the ancient sage described as : "Ani- 
mals with only two feet and no feathers.'' 

I met with no treachery among these friends ; 
but, that they might not be too superior to the rest 
of the world, some of them were addicted to glut- 
tony, and some to laziness. 

Occasionally, even, I detected signs of malice 
and jealousy. However, they generally obeyed 
their better and more virtuous instincts. 



4 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

Do not many men allow their most noble gifts 
to degenerate into vices ? And would not many 
animals have the right to say to their masters, 
''Do you, yourselves, practice that behavior which 
you expect from your horse and dog?" 

I will now begin the history of some animals, 
whom I consider it an honor to have known in 
life, and who thought me worthy of their friendship. 



^^ 



MOKO. 

The friend who was associated with my earliest 
life, was a monkey. He belonged to the '' Mar- 
moset" tribe, and answered to the name of Moko. 
In the time of Moko I was a very small child, five 
or six at the most. He was as tall as I, and 
seemed to consider me as the same race as himself. 
He certainly always treated me like a comrade. 

During the day Moko sat astride on the balus- 
trade of the staircase, with both hands clasped 
over the pommel, to which he was fastened by a 
light chain passed around his slender body. 

From this post of observation he took note of 
the various members of the family, as they passed 
up and down stairs. 

He knew all our visitors by sight, and even who 
among them were welcome and who were not. 
To the former the worthy fellow never failed to 
offer his paw ; the latter he saluted with a grimace. 



6 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

Sometimes, even, he would tear the bottom of 
their clothing or send their hats flying off their 
heads. But, what could be done to a monkey 
who would fill the house with his cries, if he were 
scolded? 

The guest passed on, grumbling to himself, leav- 
ing Moko scratching his sides and chuckling with 
glee. 

Moko had earned for himself a very bad reputa- 
tion in our neighborhood. It was customary at 
this time, in Marseilles, for the fruiterers to spread 
their merchandise along the sidewalk of the '' Rue 
Levac,'' where our home then was. 

Now, sometimes, Moko was able to escape, 
not quite unaided by his friends, and, with two 
bounds, would be in the street. He adored 
tomatoes, love-apples, as they were called in Mar- 
seilles. Had they been protected by a force of 
soldiers, he would have been unable to resist 
the desire to steal them. There they were, 
arranged in pyramids, and gleaming red in the 



MOKO. 7 

sunlight ; but, by this time, the fruiterers had 
espied our Moko. 

A grand struggle ensued, arms and tongues 
movine in concord. On one side were numbers 
and brooms, on the other, four feet and agility. 
Moko ran, leaped, evaded the brooms, upset piles 
of cabbages, slipped under the petticoats of the 
women, and suddenly reappeared with a tomato in 
each hand. 

It is but fair to explain that Moko was not 
tempted to take all this trouble by gluttony. No ! 
it was to gratify his artistic sense, for Moko was a 
colorist. Pursued by cries of rage, he planted 
himself on a post, triumphantly swinging his arms, 
and then suddenly flung the tomatoes across the 
street against the opposite wall, and over the heads 
of his enemies. Here the tomatoes were smashed, 
and made great red stars, the sight of which filled 
Moko with delight. 

His opponents were now again upon him, but 
with one bound Moko had scrambled upon the 



8 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

long pipes leading from the roof, and in a moment 
was on the house-top. Then from below would be 
heard a perfect torrent of invectives and vocifera- 
tions, while on the roof appeared a whirligig of 
head, tail, and paws, from the middle of which 
issued cries resembling bursts of laughter. A fire- 
man only could have climbed to Moko in this posi- 
tion, and even then it would have been impossible 
to catch him. The fruiterers menaced him with 
their fists, and Moko, who was now highly 
exhilarated, only leaped and grimaced the more, 
until hunger brought him home through the 
skylight. 

This frolic was repeated on an average of three 
times a week. Tomatoes failing, Moko attacked 
the cherries and almonds, but these he ate. 

I must confess, that under these circumstances I 
shared the stolen fruits. Moko generously divided 
the spoils, although, sometimes, he would repent 
later, and scratches would be the result. 

There was one hour in each day when Moko's 



MOKO. 9 

gluttony was brought out in all its worst features, 
and I was always the victim. 

We were in that old house on the '' Rue Levac/' 
a troupe of school-children of all ages — brothers, 
cousins and friends, all full of fun and roguery. 
An old woman had the troublesome position of 
taking care of us, and with many ineffectual repri- 
mands would distribute the bread and jam for 
lunch. 

This in our hands, and tasting the jam with our 
lips on the way, the whole company rushed down 
stairs with a great noise, and dispersed in the court, 
our usual play-ground. I, being the youngest, was 
generally last in the line, my comrades not in the 
least objecting to leave me behind. 

This was the moment eagerly awaited by the 

monkey ; still he looked like such a good fellow, 

quietly perched on the pommel of the balustrade, 

seemingly absorbed in his own thoughts, that I 

could never make up my mind to suspect him of 

evil intentions. But scarcely was I within reach 
1* 



lO HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

of his paws, ere Moko, throwing off all disguise, 
would seize me by the neck with one hand, while 
with the other he pounced upon my cherished tar- 
tine. In his monkey mind he evidently resented 
the injustice of always being omitted in the distri- 
bution. 

Now, I naturally resisted this maltreatment ; he 
refused to give way, uttering diabolical yells ; I 
screamed ; brothers, cousins, and friends in the ves- 
tibule below laughed with delight at the spectacle. 
Finally, my small strength being weakened by de- 
spair, and the scratches which the monkey freely 
administered, I was forced to succumb and relin- 
quish my tartine to Moko's greedy clutches. He 
took it with cries of delight, his face wrinkling 
with pleasure, and soon I saw my tit-bit crunched 
between his beautiful teeth, while I wept hot tears 
of rage. , 

But Moko was 'so droll and spirited, and mingled 
in our plays with so much waggery, bearing me no 
malice whatever for the wrong he had done me, 



MOKO. ^ I 1 

that I too soon forgot it. The next day saw the 
whole performance repeated. 

Among our other games, which made the house 
a pandemonium for neighbors, and a paradise for 
the children, was that of fighting battles, for which 
we had a perfect mania. 

Our army consisted of a magnificent array of 
leaden soldiers, and a superb artillery, in which 
were comprised cannon of every calibre. 

We ranged our men in order of battle, different 
nationalities opposing each other. There were 
hussars, grenadiers, dragoons, and generals, who 
advanced, sword in hand, against fortresses made of 
-laths and dictionaries. How astonished the latter 
must have been by such usage ! The cannon 
were now put into battery, charged to the mouth 
with powder (for these were real copper cannon, 
and would ''go off"), aim was taken, and a volley 
of fire ensued. 

It was grand to see how the battalions were cut 
in two by this discharge, and how the field was 



12 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

Strewn with dead and wounded. Moko always 
assisted in these mock battles, and greatly enjoyed 
them, sometimes aiding us in taking out the men, 
and setting them up on the field. But, at the first 
explosion of the cannon, he leaped into the air and 
took to flight. 

At last, one day, one of us had a fancy of making 
a commander-in-chief of Moko. We set a hat and 
feathers on his head, and girt a cavalry sword 
about his waist ; vainest of creatures, he was in 
ecstasy. 

Thus arrayed, he was led to the front of the 
two armies, and the lighted fuse respectfully pre- 
sented to him by the artillery-man. 

Imitative, like all monkeys, he took the fuse, 
niarched deliberately to the touch-hole of the 
largest cannon (rather overcharged for the occa- 
sion), and lighted it. The cannon exploded with 
a formidable noise. Moko forgot that, as general, 
his duty bade him set a good example to his sol- 
diers, and uttering frightful cries, he took to igno- 



MOKO. 13 

minious flight, forgetful of hat and feathers, which 
were left on the field of battle, and trailing his 
sword after him, amid shouts of laughter from the 
spectators. His sword dancing about his legs in- 
creased his terror. 

He disappeared from among us until brought 
back by the pangs of hunger. Never again could 
he be induced to accept the honorable position of 
commander-in-chief. 

At last, Moko shared the fate common to mon- 
keys, — he died ! 

One day after one of his tomato escapades, he 
had taken refuge, as was his wont, on a neighbor- 
ing roof. It was an autumn day, very windy and 
with some rain. He came home with a severe 
cold. An inflammation on the chest declared itself 
with a cough. In a few days he had' lost all his 
gluttony and gayety. My tartines even ceased 
to tempt him. If he leaped upon me now it 
was to warm himself by rolling in a ball on my 
knees. 



14 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

I brought him all the delicacies, and all the milk 
that I could obtain from the kitchen. 

Every evening he followed me to my room, and 
rolled himself up in the end of the covering at the 
foot of my bed. 

During the night I would hear him groaning and 
coughing, then the tears would come into my eyes 
as I tried to comfort poor Moko. 

One morning on awakening I perceived that he 
did not move. I raised the covering and found 
the poor monkey stiff, and cold as ice. I burst 
into tears. Moko is dead ! Moko is dead ! They 
had to carry me away. 



TIGER. 

Tiger was a dog, a contemporary with Moko, 
but not his compatriot. 

Picture to yourself an immense creature, shaggy 
as a spaniel, but strong as a bull-dog. He was 
born in Provence, but his father came from the 
island of Newfoundland, and his mother from the 
Pyrenees. 

Tiger inhabited with us, in the suburbs of Mar- 
seilles, a country house where there was neither 
house nor country, as I will explain. 

The house was a ruin, where we had discovered, 
on the first floor, two rooms and a pantry, and 
up-stairs under the roof, a bedroom, where one 
could stand on all fours in one of the corners, and 
half upright in the others. 

The two rooms down stairs were at once 
kitchen, drawing, dining-rooms, dressing and 
bedrooms. 



1 6 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

In the pantry we kept everything — fagots, all 
sorts of tools and provisions ; while in the cham- 
ber, hollowed out under the roof, lived the man 
who took care of the house, and his wife. 

The^ country thereabouts consisted of rocks 
and bushes, bounded by ravines and woods, 
where there was nothing sown and nothing 
reaped. 

This place seemed a paradise to us children. 
Here we could run about at will, and break and 
destroy without anybody caring. Indeed, there 
was nothing breakable, unless it was our heads 
and limbs, against the stones. 

Three solitary olive trees alone adorned the 
space about the ruin, with the exception of a stone 
bench, protected by a wall. 

Every Friday evening our band arrived, with a 
great racket, at our paradise. We always walked, 
carrying our provisions. When night came, we 
went to sleep all together, in one of the lower 
rooms, where we spread our mattresses from the 



TIGER. 1 7 

single door to the single window. We ranged our- 
selves in a row, in order of age. 

With the first ray of sunlight, the flock took to 
flight, with shouts and laughter, and the day was 
spent in racing, wrestling, and play. Sometimes 
we would pass several days in this manner. 

Tiger was our constant companion. On Friday 
evening, at seven o'clock, he always came to meet 
us. He never failed to remember the day, and 
when he saw us in the distance, he set out on a 
trot, his tail streaming in the wind and nose in air. 
Barking with all his might, he would spring into the 
midst of us, generally overturning three or four ; 
but, of this we never complained. It was his way 
of bidding us welcome. From that moment, he 
shared in all our races and games. Tiger was so 
much larger than I, that when he stood up to em- 
brace me, I entirely disappeared between his paws. 

Never was such a monster so gentle. The chil- 
dren could all sit on his back, roll over his sides, 
pull his tail and ears, plunge their hands into his 



iS HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

cavern of a mouth, and he never uttered a growl. 
But, if any ragged trespasser came about the place, 
if any surly dog dared to approach us, Tiger, 
crouching majestically before the door, had only to* 
growl in a certain way and show his teeth, to make 
both trespasser and dog quickly vanish. 

Tiger took me especially under his protection, 
probably because I was the smallest. I loved him 
intensely. At noon, when it was too warm to play, 
I would take my nap between his paws, the thick 
hair which wadded his sides serving me for a pillow. 
And, while I slept, he would not move a limb. 

But, what frolics we had on awaking ! At meal- 
times. Tiger seated himself beside us, his large 
head and neck appearing above the table. 

His long red tongue, came and went, moved by 
eagerness, but his modesty equalled his appetite. 
He waited until some one offered him a morsel ; 
then, to seize and swallow were with him the same 

4 

thing, the wagging of his tail bearing evidence of 
his satisfaction. 



Q 




TIGER. 1 9 

The plates cleared away, we rushed into the 
woods. When Tiger was our companion there 
was no danger to be feared. 

He played tag with us, and no one could catch 
him. 

About this time a ghost appeared in the 
neighborhood ; I can speak with certainty, for I 
saw it. 

He was held in terror for three miles around, 
although, like a well-bred ghost, he was only seen 
after dark, and every one ran away when he ap- 
peared. 

The peasant who took care of the old ruin was 
an old soldier, who had taken part in the great 
wars in Spain. He was called Pierrette, which is 
a diminutive of Pierre. Now Pierrette was brave 
as his own sword, but at the same time horribly 
afraid of the phantom. This involuntary feeling 
wounded his vanity, and he swore he would know 
the reason why. 

They left me sometimes at the ruin under the 



20 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

care of Pierrette and his wife, a Castilian, whom 
he had picked up on some of his expeditions. 

One afternoon, at nightfall, I sat c)n the bench 
under the shadow of the little wall. I was sitting, 
as children do, looking straight before me, without 
thinking of anything at all. Suddenly I saw dis- 
tinctly defined against the black shade of the forest, 
a white form advancing slowly towards the house. 
My eyes started out of my head, and jumping to 
my feet, I cried, ''There is the ghost," and frightful 
terror seized me. 

Tiger was not there, for a neighbor had taken 
him on an expedition in the country. 

At my cry Pierrette rushed out of the house. He 
saw me trembling, and perceived the phantom 
passing across the terrace behind the three dead 
olive trees. 

The dry branches of one of them were traced in 
black against the white figure. Pierrette returned 
to the house, took from the chimney-piece an old 
gun which had figured at the battle of Toulouse, 



TIGER. 21 

slipped in the barrel a, handful of shot, came out 
again, and walked resolutely tov/ards the spectre, 
which stopped a hundred feet from our house. 

It had now grown quite dark. I, trembling in 
every limb, and unable to move, stared fixedly at 
the ghost, with a superstitious fascination. 

'' Who goes there ? " cried Pierrette, with a loud 
voice, when he was within a few steps of the olive 
trees. The phantom slowly moved both arms, but 
remained silent. It appeared to me immensely 
large ; its head towered above the dead branches. 

'* Who goes there ? " repeated Pierrette, in a 
voice which now trembled a little ; '' if you do not 
answer I will fire." 

The words came distinctly to my ear. I lost no 
syllable, and my heart beat quick enough to stifle 
me. 

The ghost again moved its great arms, the ex- 
tremities of which seemed to touch the horizon. 
I saw the long shroud-like draperies waving ; still 
it maintained silence. • 



2 2 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

Pierrette lowered the muzzle of his gun, took 

9 

aim and pulled the trigger. I heard the click, but 
no report followed. 

The phantom, with a yell of infernal laughter, 
advanced eight or ten steps. 

Pierrette, in utter terror, beat a hasty retreat ; 
his foot encountered a stone ; he tripped, while his 
gun slipped from his hands. 

The ghost hastened its steps. Pierrette picked 
himself up and again took to flight, forgetting his 
musket. I saw him coming towards me, pale and 
out of breath. " Come," he cried, and seizing me 
by the arm, when he saw I had not the strength 
to move, he drew me with him into the house, and 
then carefully bolted the door. 

His wife, who had seen everything from the 
window, now threw herself on her knees in a 
corner, beat her breast, mumbling prayers in a 
strange language, which was a mixture of Spanish, 
French, and Provencal, and which she alone un- 
derstood. Her teeth chattered with fear. Pier- 



TIGER. 23 

rette, however, ventured his eye to a hole in the 
top of the door. Through this he saw the phan- 
tom slowly^ traverse the terrace and disappear 
round the corner of an old building, half fallen 
down, which we called the '' body guard.'' 

As to myself, I had fallen half dead into a chair. 
I believe if the thing had knocked at the door I 
should have died at once. 

The Castilian woman spent the night in praying, 
Pierrette in swearing. 

The next day we could find no trace of the mus- 
ket, except the ramrod, which lay on the ground 
where it had fallen. What a ghost should do with 
a gun we could not understand. Three hens were 
also missing from the poultry-yard, and a beautiful 
cock, who was our especial pride, and one we had 
had for years. 

What on earth should a ghost want with poul- 
try? I did not try to solve the mystery of the 
silent tomb, but these circumstances filled me with 
wonder. 



24 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

Pierrette plotted vengeance, yet knew not how 
to compass it without arms. His wife implored 
him to leave the devil in peace (for the devil it 
must be, in guise of a spectre), and to burn a candle 
to the Virgin. At last Tiger returned, and his 
presence brought a little courage to the household, 
where, indeed, it was needed enough. The ghost 
walked every night. 

One evening, weary of seeing the thing coming 
and going at will about the place, Pierrette let loose 
Tiger. He made but one bound out of the house, 
and dashed right after the phantom. 

The ghost moved its great arms. Tiger, who 
seemed no whit afraid, responded to this panto- 
mime by terrible barking, and ran faster. The 
phantom turned and fled. In running, its long robe 
and its feet became entangled in a bramble. It 
fell full length on the ground. Tiger, who was at 
its heels, sprang upon the white form rolling on the 
ground, and seized it by the neck. The ghost ut- 
tered cries of distress. Some peasants who were 



TIGER. ^ 2 5 

passing came running up at the noise, Pierrette 
came out of the house, followed at a distance by 
myself. I arrived thus like a rear guard on the 
batrie-field. 

We found there, struggling under two or three 
sheets, a country clown, who had amused himself 
at the expense of the poultry-yards of the neigh- 
borhood. 

Naturally lazy, the bad fellow found it convenient 
to live on the fruits of others' labor. To this end 
he had adopted the profession of ghost, playing 
upon the superstitions of the people, and making 
thereby a comfortable living. Unfortunately for 
him, he at last met our Tiger ! 

The peasants surrounded the poor spectre, and 
laughed heartily. They laughed loudest who had 
been most afraid. 

When the fellow tried to get up and disencumber 
himself of his spectral attire. Tiger ground his 
teeth. When he rolled back again and remained 
quiet, Tiger looked at us as if to say. 



2 6 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

'' You see there is nothing to be afraid of. You 
trembled like cowards because this clown walked 
across your fields in a fantastic disguise ; I have 
thrown him to the ground, and I swear to you that 
he shall not rise without further orders." 

In truth, the phantom was pale as death. They 
sent him home with blows, and he was forced to 
leave the neighborhood to escape further vengeance. 

You may imagine that Tiger had a good supper 
that evening. The best pieces were given to him. 
He received them as due homage, and eat them 
with an air of complaisance. 

That supper was well seasoned with compliments. 
His tail, which he wagged against our legs, seemed 
to say, '' More ! more ! '' 

I have never quite decided whether this referred 
to the food or the compliments. 

Tiger's reputation passed beyond the village. 
It became legendary. He was talked of as a hero, 
and people came to see him from all the neighbor- 
ing places. But Tiger was not proud, and con- 



TIGER. 27 

tinued to play with us as before. His courage was 
only equalled by his modesty. But this reputation 
caused us to lose Tiger. 

Upon the fame of his exploits, a farmer, who had 
great flocks of sheep on the mountains, bought 
him and put him in charge. 

A dog who knew how to combat and conquer a 
phantom, might well be expected to hold his own 
against wolves and bears. They concealed from 
us, as well as from Tiger, the length of the separa- 
tion. If we had known the truth, we should have 
found it hard to bear. T have never since seen 
Tiger. One day, long after, returning from a hunt 
for sparrows and finches- — the only game ever known 
about the place — I heard a shepherd, who was talk- 
ing with Pierrette, tell the story of a brave dog, 
who, trying to save his flock, had given battle to a 
bear in the Alps. The dog had died of his wounds, 
after having forced the fierce creature to retreat. 

This story gave me great pain, for I felt sure 
that the dog was Tiger. 



MARIAN AND MIRZA. 

Marian was an ostrich, Mirza a gazelle. 

I shall never forget the cries of joy and admira- 
tion which I uttered when I first saw these two 
creatures, before this time only known from pic- 
tures. 

It is not often that gazelles and ostriches are 
found in private houses. These two were natives 
of Africa, but, to their credit be it spoken, betrayed 
no surprise wheirthey found themselves in a garden, 
after having been brought up in a desert. But I 
must explain how they came to make part of our 
family. You must know that I had a grown up 
brother, who was very fond of travel and adven- 
ture, and who had been sent to Tunis on some 
business, I do not know what. 

The business transacted, he returned in a sailing 
vessel with a formidable cargo of all sorts of animals, 
concerning which his letters had made no mention. 



MARIAN AND MIRZA. 29 

All the loafers on. the docks at Marseilles ran to 
witness the landing of this living freight. I con- 
fess to having been rather frightened. It seemed 
to me, that this must be just like the landing of 
Noah's Ark on Mount Ararat. 

There was an iron-gray Arabian horse ; half a doz- 
en birds with bright plumage ; a white dromedary 
(a very rare and curious animal, my brother said) ; 
two porcupines, bristling all over with black and 
white quills ; a hyena in a cage, which I regarded 
suspiciously, remembering the stories that I had 
heard about these fierce beasts ; a panther, who 
played with his tail like a great cat ; a troupe of 
monkeys, who gave great trouble in landing, be- 
cause they leaped about, uttering horrid screams ; 
two or three gazelles, and, finally, an ostrich, who 
looked down upon the whole menagerie from the 
top of its long neck. 

Notwithstanding the protests of my brother, this 
whole feathered and hairy cargo was despatched 
at once to a menagerie, which, at this time, filled 



30 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

Marseilles with the roaring and screaming of its 
inmates. 

The ostrich and one gazelle were alone separated 
from the rest (I never knew exactly why), and led 
home amid quite a concourse of people. Every- 
one, besides, ran to the windows to see us pass. I 
marched at the head of the procession, and felt 
quite a distinguished personage. 

Marian and Mirza (I never knew how they came- 
by their names) were introduced into the garden 
— our house was never free from children. All 
the school-children in the neighborhood paid them 
frequent visits. What a racket we made from 
morning until night! 

The ostrich and gazelle succeeded to a number 
of frogs, that we had all — brothers, cousins, and 
friends — united in transporting from the country 
to the city, and thrown pell-mell into a little foun- 
tain, that played its slender jet of water into an 
old, mossy, stone basin, at the bottom of the gar- 
den. 




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MARIAN AND MIRZA. 3 1 

Our neighbors had been kept nicely awake for 
about twenty nights, by the nocturnal croakings 
and concerts of these batrachians, who mourned 
their native pools. They soon spread beyond the 
grass-plots and flower-beds, and were found even 
in the parlors and bed-rooms. We were fre- 
quently awakened in the night by one croaking at 
our ears, and again and again were the conversa- 
tions of visitors interrupted by a frog, who would 
leap gracefully into the lap of an astonished 
lady. 

As soon as Marian and Mirza were put in pos- 
session of the garden, I made a third person in 
their society. 

I never saw intimate friends quarrel so persever- 
ingly as they did ; not seeming to know when to 
leave off, but continually pursuing each other, with 
pecks and buttings. 

No sooner did one finish, than the other com- 
menced. 

I have since thought that it might have been as 



32 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

much a matter of hygiene for these Africans as of 
enmity. The violence of the exercise gave them 
the feeling of being still at liberty. 

You will readily believe that all our play hours 
were spent in the garden. The romping there 
lasted from noon until two o'clock, and from 
five until seven. I, being so small, found means to 
evade rules and slip in unseen, at all hours. 
A door left ajar, or a half-opened window, were 
quite enough. These failing, I had recourse to the 
ventilator. Any part of my life spent away from 
the ostrich and gazelle appeared to me insipid. 

On the stroke of twelve, we rushed pell-mell, 
and with mouths full of bread and jam, into the 
garden. Marian walked about, looking for frogs, 
among which she at once made a terrible mas- 
sacre. 

They soon became very scarce, and the last 
ones, like prudent creatures, took refuge in the 
cracks of the walls, or the topmost branches of the 
pear tree, anywhere out of reach of her long neck. 



xMARIAN AND MIRZA. 33 

How grotesque were her efforts to reach them ! 
As soon as we were in the garden, my brother 
took me by the arms, and tossed me on the back 
of the ostrich. 

Marian, who would not allow that she had been 
born in an egg to perform the work of a horse, 
spread her great wings, and set out on a round trot. 

Mirza followed at Marian's heels, using her 
horns as spurs, to urge the ostrich to greater 
speed. 

A lively race ensued, animated by the shouts of 
my comrades, and the cracking of half a dozen 
whips. This race in the garden both amused and 
frightened me. Crying and laughing at the same 
time, I put my little arm around Marian's neck, and 
held on with all my might. 

When Mirza's horns seemed too sharp, the 
ostrich would kick, and I would have hard work 
to keep my place. 

The race, indeed, generally finished by my being 
thrown head over heels on the grass, when Marian 



34 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

came to a halt, and stood regarding me triumph- 
antly out of her little eyes. 

We soon discovered that Marian had a taste for 
exploring. On the slightest pretext, she would leave 
the garden, her legitimate domicile, Mirza always 
at her heels. 

Sometimes, we children left the doors open on 
purpose. When they discovered this, the crea- 
tures started off, one walking, the other leaping, 
while we, hidden in the corners, watched their 
proceedings. 

Before long, cries from within told us that the 
delinquents had been discovered by a servant, and 
a fantastic chase commenced, always at the cost of 
some glass-ware or ornament. 

One day, Marian, in her rambles, encountered 
a closed door. She tapped against the panel with 
her beak. 

''Come in,'' responded a voice from within. 

Marian pushed with all her strength against the 
door, which finally yielded, and she entered. 



MARIAN AND MIRZA. 35 

At the apparition of this visitor, a group of 
ladies, who were calling at the house, started up in 
confusion, screaming, and waving excitedly, shawls 
and parasols. 

It was a regular panic. Marian, who had not 
expected such a reception, beat her wings, and 
started on a gallop, thinking, no doubt, that it was 
a new sort of play. 

Mirza, who came bounding behind her, became 
entangled in a lady's dress, and a general helter- 
skelter ensued. 

We children were almost stifled with laughter, 
and on their return to the garden, Marian and 
Mirza received praises and embraces. 

Emboldened by success, Marian, having found 
the gate leading to the street one day open, prof- 
ited by the opportunity to take a walk. 

She had not made five steps before she was per- 
ceived by a little street boy, who pointed her out 
to some ragamuffins, who were playing marbles. 

A hunt was quickly organized. In five minutes. 



36 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

the whole neighborhood, from the '' Place Saint- 
Ferrol" to ''La Lannebierre '' had joined in the 
fun. 

There was not often such game loose in the 
streets of Marseilles. I came last in the crowd, 
crying, " Oh, don't hurt her, don't hurt her! '' 

She was, at last, brought to bay, in a court, the 
entrance to which was at once blocked up by the 
crowd. Slipping, like a needle, between the 
people's legs, I succeeded in reaching Marian, 
who was trembling all over, and ready to die, with 
fear. 

By my entreaties, I persuaded the policeman to 
take her home, safe and sound. 

If Marian was indefatigable in her walks, she 
was not less so in her appetite. This was con- 
stant, equal, and prodigious. 

As soon as any one came near her, she opened 
her beak, and swallowed everything put in. 

I always brought her my two pockets full of 
bread, and my basket full of cabbages and heads of 



MARIAN AND MIRZA. 37 

lettuce. She never intimated that she had enough. 
I beheve, if she had been allowed, she would have 
eaten the basket. 

Mirza, who, on her part, browsed daintily on the 
choicest clover, and munched the most appetizing 
grains, seemed to feel quite a contempt for Mar- 
ian's gluttony. 

About this time the house in the '' Rue Mont- 
grand " was thrown into a great commotion. 

The fountain and basin which ornamented^ our 
garden were not alone used as a home for poor 
frogs. They also furnished water to fill the great 
tubs in which the clothes were washed, which the 
servants afterwards hung to dry on long lines 
stretched from tree to tree. 

Now, an extraordinary mortality made its appear- 
ance among the pieces of linen thus exposed to sun 
and wind. 

There was a regular depopulation. Everything 
vanished, handkerchiefs, and caps, chemisettes and 
stockings, whether they were spread wet and drip- 



38 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

ping on the lines, or left soaking in soap and water 
in the earthen vases^ so much used in Marseilles, 
and called there '' tians,'' no. one ever saw them 
again. It was a perfect epidemic ; whether , a 
plague or a burglary, no one knew. 

There was great consternation in the kitchen, 
and in the servant's hall, lamentation and mourn- 
ing. 

One bemoaned a head-dress, another a pair of 
stockings. They said it must be either the worst 
kind of a thief, or an evil spirit. But what spirit 
would choose our garden for its depredations 

One day a pair of gloves, left by chance upon 
the window sill, disappeared five minutes after. 
The next a cravat, hung across a branch, vanished 
in the twinkling of an eye. 

We sought everywhere, amazed ; Marian follow- 
ing our movements with that pretentious manner 
peculiar to ostriches. 

Nothing was found. 

At last one morning we heard a cry of triumph 



MARIAN AND MIRZA. 39 

from the garden announcing that the thief was dis- 
covered. The thief was Marian. 

We all ran to the spot and saw the housemaid 
pointing towards Marian, who was gravely prome- 
nading her favorite walk, but giving slight signs of 
discomfort. 

The end of a cambric ribbon hung out of her 
beak, down over her breast. A great ball-shaped 
protuberance was evident in the middle of her 
neck ; and, while walking with an affected indiffer- 
ence, she made all the time great efforts to assist 
this lump down her throat into her stomach. 

I sprang towards her and seized the end of the 
tell-tale ribbon. One vigorous pull brought the 
full length in my hand. 

Marian pulled on her side, I would not give way ; 
soon the end of a cap appeared. Marian began to 
run, I held with all my might by the trunk of a 
plum-tree, and suddenly the neck of the ostrich 
elongated itself, and a cap ornamented with lace 
and ribbons fell to the ground. 



40 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

But in what a condition ! '' Will they never put 
this wicked beast on the spit ? " cried the owner of 
the poor half-digested head-dress. 

This time paternal authority interfered. 

An ostrich, even from Tunis, who lived on head- 
dresses and chemisettes, was too expensive a lux- 
ury. My father pronounced her banishment. 

Marian was sold to one of those collectors of 
curious beasts, who frequent fairs. My heart was 
torn with grief at bidding her adieu. She had so 
often thrown me on the ground, and it is these 
things which attach us to our friends. 

Mirza did not share her exile. That would have 
seemed too much like a repetition of the story of 
Joseph sold by his brethren. 

A friend obtained grace for her, and she was 
taken to the country and placed in a beautiful 
enclosure in the woods. 

One day, urged by the love of adventure, she 
broke the fence and escaped into the forest. 

We never saw her again. 



coco AND MARQUIS, 

OR 

THE BEAST WHO HISSES. 

This was a horrible beast, whom I never saw, 
and yet who was able to give me many uneasy 
nights. 

It appeared sometimes in the shape of a dragon 
with many heads ; sometimes of a monstrous ser- 
pent, provided with a forked tongue, always ready 
to poison any unfortunate child who came within 
its reach. I am not quite sure that it did not have 
the faculty of throwing this tongue to a distance, 
•like a javelin. 

I tried to find its description in fairy tales, and 
what they relate of the Hydra of Lema leads me 
to believe that the '' Beast who Hisses'' must be a 
descendant of this fabulous product of mythology. 

The monster who so terrified me was especially 
characterized by the fact of his hissing. By this 



42 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

he proclaimed his vicinity, and by listening care- 
fully one might escape in time. 

Now I must explain how Marquis, who was a 
mule, and Coco, who was a dog, were connected 
with '' the Beast who Hisses/' 

This was some time after Marian and Mirza had 
given us so much pleasure in the little garden of 
the Rue Montgrand. 

I had now grown into a school-boy. At this 
time our band of children frequently took the road 
towards a certain country house called '' La Gue- 
rine." Here, indeed, were both house and country. 
There was even a park, and in this park lived the 
'' Beast who Hisses.'' 

On Friday evening, a wagon, drawn by a single 
mule, would stop at our door. Shouts of joy 
hailed its arrival. 

You need not think that this mule was like the 
small weakly animals one sees in Paris. This 
was a superb creature, tall as a horse and 
strong as an ox. The wagon was furnished with 



coco AND MARQUIS. 43 

a mattress, upon which our little persons could 
rest comfortably, and we were protected from 
the sun and rain by a brown awning. 

At this epoch, separated from the present by 
four or five revolutions, this was all the carri^^ge 
considered necessary for small boys. 

Once tumbled pell mell on the mattress, sitting 
or lying down, a confusion of legs, some hanging 
outside, some crossed under us. Marquis received 
a blow with the whip, and we started off on a walk. 

We travelled like kings visiting their kingdom. 

La Guerine was situated some leagues from 
Marseilles, on the' left of that sandy road, the ug- 
liest in all France, which connects Aix with the 
prefecture of the '' Bouches du Rhone.'' 

The landscape is gray, the road is gray, the 
fields are gray, the horizon is gray. 

You advance in a veil of gray mist, a mist made 
of dust ; a passing carriage . is a rolling cloud. 
The wheels sink in the sand where feet would 
quite disappear. 



44 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

In the mist which reaches from earth to sky, 
only stirred by sharp squalls of wind, the sun ap- 
pears round like a shield of red metal. 

The people walking by, and the mulberry trees, 
which grow with rounded tops along the road, are 
always covered with the white dust. 

Marquis walked through it all as though he 
journeyed in the freshness and verdure of an oasis. 

I never knew a more vicious animal than Mar- 
quis. His great delights were kicking and biting. 
When he succeeded in doing mischief, he shook 
his sides. This was his way of laughing. Mar- 
quis almost always kept his ears crossed, which, in 
mules, is a sign of ill humor. 

We loved Marquis, notwithstanding his hateful 
character, because he represented for us liberty 
and country life. 

He never pulled us because it was his duty, but 
because he was obliged to, and his chief idea 
seemed to be to try if he could not break the 
traces by sudden starts. 



coco AND MARQUIS. 45 

Sometimes he succeeded, and then his joy was 
expressed by neighing. 

The driver, who corresponded very well with 
the wagon and harness, punished him with blows, 
but the neighing did not cease. 

Marquis, like the little Spartan of the Greek 
legend, was willing to bear pain for the sake of 
victory. We cannot calculate how much pleasure 
the sight of a broken trace can give to a mule. 

If a great stone or other obstacle lay in our 
road, Marquis never failed to drag us over it, or, if 
it were possible to pull us into a particularly deep 
rut, in we went. Thus our ride was a succession 
of jolts. 

I do not think that we bore him any malice for 
his tricks. They, at least, contributed variety to 
our drives. 

Occasionally Marquis would succeed in over- 
turning the whole party on to a heap of stones. 
Then it was that he experienced true happiness. 

I remember yet his expression of glee as he 



46 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

looked down upon us struggling to get to our feet 
again in a bed of dust and stones. 

The only virtue that Marquis could lay any 
claim to, was frugality. He lived upon thistles. 
I think if we had only given him ropes to eat he 
would have been satisfied. 

Beyond Septenec, a gray village among gray 
rocks, the wagon entered a desolate place called 
'' The Plain,'' bounded by a circle, of little hills 
covered with low trees. Here and there was a 
river, about which the wind whistled. No trees, 
except a few almonds, and not a single path. The 
wheels grated on the naked rock. Here we de- 
scended from the wagon to play. Marquis browsed 
here and there on some lavender twigs, or tufts of 
rosemary, less for the pleasure of eating than for 
that of pulling them up. 

We went on to meet Coco. Tiger used to come 
bounding to meet us at '' Trois Lues," but Coco, 
guardian of '' La Guerine," awaited our approach, 
seated modestly upon his haunches, in a certain 



coco AND MARQUIS. 47 

place that we knew very well, where the rocky 
undulations of the '' Plain '' sloped to\yards a 
neighboring road. 

From far away we could distinguish his massive 
silhouette against the pale sky near the horizon, 
where the day was fading. 

Nothing could be more characteristic of the two 
dogs than their different ways of meeting us. 

While Tiger barked and bounded about us, 
Coco remained silent and immovable ; a slow 
wagging of his short thick tail alone expressed his 
pleasure at the meeting. 

Now Marquis was black. Coco was brown. One 
had a smooth skin, the other a velvet coat. One 
was as wicked as the other was good, nevertheless, 
a strange but tender friendship, united the two. 

Coc6 was indeed the only friend of Marquis. 

He hardly moved from the place that he had 
chosen to await us, until the mule, shaking his bell 
collar, placed his fore hoofs upon the paws of his 
friend. 



48 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

Then the dog raised himself, the mule lowered 
his neck, their -noses met; in their way they 
emibraced, and having thus rendered homage to 
friendship, Coco would deign to notice us, respond- 
ing gravely to our caresses by more lively wag- 
gings of his tail, and escorted us to the beautiful 
park of La Guerine, which was the scene of our 
innumerable depredations and frolics. 

(How many peaches, existing at noon, that by 
night had vanished — how many fig-trees were pil- 
laged!) There was a large basin, shaded by weep- 
ing willows and filled by a fountain that rippled its 
fresh clear water. On this pond, which seemed 
to me immense, we could sail our boats, but it was 
too deep to allow boys full liberty of bathing. We 
were forbidden to go into the water, and here 
began the invention of the beast who hisses ; 
whose existence I no more doubted than that of 
Marquis or Coco. 

This terrible beast had been appointed guardian 
of the pond, about which they told us ; it roamed 



o 

o 
o 



> 


> 

D 
C 

w 






'I .lU;! 










I," 'l' 



coco AND MARQUIS. 49 

r 

without rest, day and night, and we ought to see 
how it crunched the bones of children with its 
great teeth, especially did it relish the taste of 
school-boys. Oh! it was horrible. 

Commands might not have been sufficient to 
keep us from the pond, but the thought of the 
** Beast who hisses," hid in the thick woods, made 
us shudder. We played tag, and prisoner's 
base in the park, where there were many thick 
hedges, homes of squirrels and blackbirds, but 
here we were always followed by Coco. 

But Coco did not imitate Tiger. He took no 
part in the races and games. He only sat still and 
looked on. 

When Coco was near, I was not afraid, although 
how I could expect this formidable beast to be in- 
timidated by a poor old dog like Coco, I cannot 
tell. 

At the least hissing, that, by chance, C2&me out 
of the shade, we all ran together ; if it continued, 
we started in full retreat, not daring to look back, 

4 



5o HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

and sure that the '' Beast who hisses" was in pur- 
suit. If the hissing increased, our flight would be- 
come helter skelter. 

Sometimes it was only a little herdsboy, who 
drove before him his flock of goats, or less still, a 
blackbird whistling his song in a thicket. 

Coco trotted quietly behind us, without in the 
least understanding the cause of the sudden 
flight. 

Once, I remember, that the hissing seemed to 
come from a hedge by which we were passing. 
Coco suddenly stopped. It seemed to us that the 
foliage moved. There was then no more doubt. 
It was the Beast. A general stampede followed, 
only ceasing when we came within the shadow of 
the house. Coco walked slowly, as a rear guard. 
What in truth was indifference, seemed to us de- 
votion. The dog had, at least, saved our lives ! 

When he came to us he was overwhelmed with 
cakes and caresses. These he swallowed without 
coaxing, although his attitude seemed to say, 



coco AND MARQUIS. C)! 

'' Why this attention ? '' 

He did not complain, but the cakes almost made 
him ill. Coco always spent the night in Marquis's 
stable, although he had his own warm niche in the 
kitchen. Every evening he joined his friend, and 
slept between his paws. It was a mystery how 
such a good and such a bad character could 
sympathize. When morning came, they salu- 
ted each other, and each went about his own 
business. 

One evening we were returning from a long 
.walk in the country. We had been to a farm 
called ''Jasselet," with Coco, as usual, as our 
companion. It was in autumn, and as the night 
came on, it grew very cold and windy. We 
hastened, the frozen earth echoing our foot- 
steps. 

As the darkness deepened, we turned into a 
cross road, talking in low tones. Suddenly, Coco 
raised his nose, sniffed the air, growled, and 
started. 



52 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

The thoucjht of the '' Beast who hisses" crossed 
our minds. The walk changed to a run. We 
could not yet see the white walls of ''La Gue- 
rine." Coco had disappeared in the darkness. 

While running we did not exchange a word. 
Suddenly a growl broke the silence, followed by 
another growl, low and plaintive. Our flesh crept. 
Which one of the two beasts had strangled the 
other ? 

At the earliest daylight, with my ears still full 
of those two growls, I ran to the stable of Mar- 
quis. He looked at me in an irritated way, as, 
though he said, " What have you done with my 
friend ? '' 

No one had seen Coco. We all set out to 
seek him in the direction he had taken. 

Some traces of a struo'a-le led us to the hillocks. 
Soon one of us uttered a cry. Among the bushes 
were some pieces of a velvety skin, and some 
bones lying on the grass. A collar that had be- 
lono-ed to Coco, with the marks of teeth in it, and 



coco AND MARQUIS. 63 

red with blood, was on the ground. Coco was 
dead, and we wept his fate. Round about the 
bones and the collar the soil was scratched 
up by strong claws, which had torn away the 
earth to the rock. 

A shepherd passed by. 

-'' It is a wolf," said he, upon seeing the im- 
prints. 

What, a wolf! Each of us felt a retrospective 
terror when we thought of the danger we had run 
on returning from '' Jasselet.'' So a wolf, which, 
driven by hunger, had followed us, had carried off 
Coco. 

Marquis neither ate nor slept for several days. 
He seemed to be always watching for Coco. 

Some time after, when I was almost grown up, 
I made a visit to '' La Guerine," and asked for 
Marquis. They took me to the court where Mar- 
quis, in company with two other mules, was eating 
oats. From time to time he tried to bite one of 
his comrades. 



54 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

" He is always the same," said the driver, crack- 
ing his whip. 

I called Marquis, putting my hand on his black 
shoulder. He started and turned, then trot- 
ting away, flung a kick at me which fell into va- 
cancy. 

Then I understood that he recognized me. 



JACK. 

The poor beast bearing this name was a bear, 
and I have never seen one more ill-treated by 
fate. 

It was about the time when the '' Beast who 
hisses" hissed, that during the following vaca- 
tion I was sent on a journey under the care of a 
worthy man, who was going to visit his home ; I 
don't know why. 

The day on which I set out for Apt, it seemed 
to me that I had undertaken a far distant expedi- 
tion, like those I had read of. Extraordinary ad- 
ventures could not fail to fall in my way. ' 

A clumsy vehicle, which went at the slowest 
pace possible, flattered by being called a diligence, 
transported us, together with two or three peasant 
women, an old monk, who was on a pilgrimage, 
and any number of parcels that the conductor 



56 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

(who slept most of the time) had engaged to de- 
Hver along the route. 

This style of travelling would not please school- 
boys of the present day, accustomed to the light- 
ning speed of the railway train. 

During the journey the only enjoyment con- 
sisted 'of breathing the dust-laden air, the warmth, 
the jolting, and a slowness which seemed like 
standing still. 

However, all these drawbacks did not prevent 
my enjoying myself immensely. I wanted to cry 
out to every one we met, 

'' I am going to Apt/' 

Every time they changed horses I looked about 
for new discoveries. 

Of Apt, I have but a confused reminiscence of 
an ash-colored town with ash -colored surround- 
ings. The bear drove all else out of my mind. 

The bear lived in an inn at which my worthy 
guide and I put up. 

It consisted of an immense stable, opening 



JACK. 5; 

square on the white road, and of which the upper 
story was adorned with red curtains that flamed in 
the sun. 

Two long racks, well known by all the mules 
and donkeys in the neighborhood, went round the 
stable. On entering, one was greeted by a pleas- 
ant odor of hay. 

All children are curious, and this great stable, 
so high, wide, and deep, astonished me by its 
dimensions. 

While I was looking around me, my attention 
was attracted by a sort of velvet ball, which had 
the color and form of a great chestnut. I ap- 
proached it cautiously. 

The ball seemed animated by a regular respira- 
tion. It looked like an enormous cat with a 
shaggy coat. I then saw that it was fastened to 
the rack by a chain. This made me think that I 
had better find out what sort of animal this was 
before advancing nearer, especially as the place 
was very dark. At this moment a man, who 



58 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

seemed to have been sleeping on a bundle of 
hay, sat up and said : 

'' You need not be afraid, he will not hurt you." 

And then going up to the ball, '' Poor Jack," 
said he. 

The creature grunted and raised himself on his 
feet, which before had been hidden. 

It was a bear ! 

Poor bear ! I never saw a creature so unclean, 
dishevelled, sickly, scratched, and melancholy. 

The man, who perceived my astonishment, 
shrugged his shoulders, and, throwing a piece of 
black bread to the beast, said : 

'' What is the matter ? Is not Jack happy? " 

The fact is, that Jack had one ear torn, twenty 
sores on his back, the skin was torn off his sides, 
and he might have rivalled in thinness the lean 
kine of Pharaoh. The keeper of the bear told me 
his history. 

Jack was born in Spain, on the side of the 
Pyrenees overlooking Catalonia. He had been 



JACK. 59 

caught very young and taken to the French side 
of the mountains, to the village of Erce, where the 
education of bears was quite a profession. 

Jack was a well brought up bear of his species. 

At one year of age, he was capable of earning 
his own living; and at the time he set out to 
make the tour of France, he knew how to play the 
hunter and the shepherd, with an old hat with 
which he adorned his worthy head. He could also 
dance very well. 

At the beginning of this tour. Jack formed part 
of a caravan, composed of a chamois, two mon- 
keys, a red and blue paroquette, and a bear. The 
bear was Jack. 

One monkey travelled on the bear, the other on 
the chamois, in company with the paroquette, with 
which he quarrelled unceasingly. It was nothing 
but scratches and peckings between them. 

At last the chamois died of fatigue ; one of the 
monkeys died of cold, the paroquette of hunger. 
Of all the caravan, which had been the admiration 



6o HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

of Languedoc and Provence, travelling to the 
sound of drum and fife, there remaineid only the 
bear and one monkey. 

The monkey was the torment of the bear. 

'' There, look at him ! " said the keeper. 

A monkey, which I had not before seen, leaped 
down from the rack, where he had been asleep in 
the hay, and took the bread from between the 
great paws of the bear. 

Jack, robbed of his breakfast, struck out with his 
paw, but without touching the thief. 

The monkey, who was malicious as well as 
greedy, sprang upon the back of his great comrade 
with spitefulness, scratching and biting him, even 
on the face, in the most shameful manner. The 
bear growled, but how can one take vengeance on 
an enemy when he is on one's neck and back, 

If the keeper had not taken a whip, the monkey 
would have been slow to leave off. He ran away, 
with a tuft of hair in each hand. 

The monkey was a perfect blackguard, without 



JACK. 6 1 

any sense of shame. There never was a more 
vicious animal. There was no sort of roguery that 
he did not invent, to try the patience of poor Jack. 
He, poor fellow, had to bear it all. 

One afternoon, at the resting-time, the monkey, 
who was gambolling about, upset a jug of wine that 
a servant had forgotten, on a bench. 

The monkey, frightened by the noise that the 
jug made on falling to the ground, jumped up on 
the hay-rack. The servant, who was playing cards 
in a corner, ran to see what had happened. 

There was the monkey on the rack, gesticulat- 
ing, and pointing towards the bear, thus impress- 
ing the belief upon the man that Jack was the 
culprit. 

The servant loudly claimed the price of his wine. 
The showman, being obliged to pay it, poured out 
his wrath and blows upon poor Jack. The mon- 
key laughed at the success of his stratagem. 

'' When I arrived,*' said the keeper, ''it was too 
late to save the bear, and I could only comfort 



62 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

him with a piece of apple." This keeper was called 
Escalon, and was, as well as keeper, a friend of the 
bear. 

He had been a mountebank, and had broken his 
leg, in making a dangerous leap. 

The limb being badly mended, he was made a 
cripple for life. To gain his living, he had joined 
the troupe of a showman of strange animals. 

His friendship for Jack led him often to share 
with him his miserable pittance, as the bear 
received little from his master, except bloAvs. 

The master entered at the moment when Es- 
calon, giving Jack a leaf or two of salad, saved 
from his own breakfast, had just finished his his- 
tory. 

"Do not speak of it,'' he whispered to me, 
blushing, ''or the master will cut down my por- 
tion. 

This master looked like an ogre. He had two 
long arms, terminated by huge, knotty hands, 
a great head, with bushy hair, a round back, 



JACK. 63 

a red face, and a large mouth, in which could be 
seen four or five tusk-like teeth, 

''Prepare to be off!" he cried, swinging a knotty 
club that was attached to his belt by a leather cord. 

The bear arose ; the monkey leaped upon its 
back, Escalon took the chain, and the showman led 
the way, beating upon the tambourine and playing 
the fife. 

A troupe of loafers followed at their heels, and I 
came last of all. 

It was fair-time in Apt, and the bear was obliged 
to dance in the streets all day. He had brought on 
a fever by this over-exertion. Every night, being 
overcome by fatigue, he fell asleep between every 
dance, but was awakened by blows from the club. 

I felt a deep pity for this poor animal, and found 
a hundred pretexts to visit him in the stable. Es- 
calon always welcomed me, for I generally brought 
a piece of bread or some apples for Jack in my 
pocket ; never anything for the monkey. 

I threw these delicacies to the bear, and he car- 



64 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

ried them to his mouth with his great paws. When 
I entered he would make a motion with his ears, 
which led me to believe that I was recognized. 

''Don't be afraid; you can touch him," said Es- 
calon. 

At last I took courage, and smoothed his fur 
with the tips of my fingers. He regarded me out 
of the corners of his eyes without moving. I grew 
bolder and laid my hand on his back, then upon 
his shoulder. I ought to say that he was muzzled. 

My vanity was flattered by the thought of this 
familiarity with a bear. '' Why, when I tell them 
at home, they will hardly believe it," I thought. 

From that time I formed the habit of following 
Jack about the town, and never missing one of his 
performances. I imagined this would please him. 

On some particular holidays. Jack was called 
for, to do battle with dogs. This brought a great 
profit to the proprietor, who erected a sort of can- 
vas tent into which no one could enter without 
paying. 



JACK. 65 

The owners of the dogs brought them there, and, 
having first excited them, let them loose against 
the bear, who was chained to a post. 

Jack was born good. Naturally gentle, he 
fought without anger. Fighting without anger, he 
was often beaten. Then the spectators applauded. 
But, if the tooth of a dog entered too deeply into 
his flesh, he showed what he was capable of, and, 
with one blow of his vigorous paw, freed himself 
from his adversary, who fled, barking, and did not 
return. 

One day, the dog was killed at once by the 
mighty blow. But daily battles exhausted Jack. 
At this time I learnt his tender heart. 

The monkey who had tormented the bear, bit- 
ten, scratched, and reviled him night and day, died 
in a fit of indigestion brought on by a surfeit of 
stolen chestnuts. 

For my part I was delighted ; but the bear fell 
into a profound melancholy. He missed some- 
thing; and he sought the monkey everywhere 



66 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

with his eyes, and called him, in his way, by low 
growls. He mourned his persecutor. Escalon 
could only console him with cabbage-heads, of 
which he was very fond. 

One evening, at about dark, Escalon not being 
there, a bad-looking dog entered the stable, seek- 
ing his fortune, and threw himself upon me. He 
was a sort of bull-dog, and I was very much 
frightened, although he may instinctively have 
meant only to play. I took refuge behind the 
bear, crying. 

Jack, who had been asleep, his nose between 
his paws, raised himself and gave the dog a blow 
that sent him rolling across the stable. He 
picked himself up, and ran away. Full of 
gratitude, I would have embraced the bear, had 
I dared. 

The loss of the monkey had soured the temper 
of the showman, whose profits he had increased 
by his dances and grimaces when he paraded in a 
general's costume. 



JACK. 67 

To make up for his loss, the man increased 
the labors of the bear, since the fair drew to its 
close. 

One Sunday, when the inns were overflowing 
with people, in the month of August, beneath a 
scorching sun, Jack danced from morning to even- 
ing. Escalon pitied him, while beating the tam- 
bourine. I sympathized. The bear panted, but 
the master, who was making rich gains, urged him 
on. 

At sunset, while playing the hunter. Jack was 
taken with a shiver. He tottered and fell. A 
blow from the club made him rise again ; he tried 
to continue, but once more fell to the ground. 

Squatting there, his head reeled like that of a 
drunken man ; suddenly his whole body seemed 
agitated by a spasm. He stretched out his limbs 
and died. 

They put Jack on a cart, amid imprecations from 
the master who had injured him, and who would 
willingly have brought him to life again. 



68 HISTORY OF MY FRIE-NDS. 

Escalon wept, drying his tears with a ragged 
pocket-handkerchief. 

I walked by his side, and we followed the bear 
until they threw him into a ditch on the edge of a 
field. 

The next day we left Apt. 



JEANNOT. 

I HAD quite forgotten to bring in Jeannot in the 
place where he belongs, and I feel quite guilty of 
ingratitude. 

Poor rabbit ! I must look far back in my history 
to find you. Your epoch was when the wood of 
'' Trois Lues " seemed to me the grandest forest 
in the world, a short time after Tiger had van- 
quished the ghost. ' 

Jeannot was brought to us one evening by a 
little shepherd, who had found him in a rabbit hole, 
while watching his goats. 

How this young rabbit had come there no one 
could tell ; for the young one presupposed the 
existence of a father and mother, neither of which 
had ever been seen, and if they had been, no one 
could have explained the presence of two wild rab- 
bits in the suburbs of Marseilles. 

As, in former times, Joseph was sold by his 



JO HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

brothers, Jeannot was sold to us for the sum of five 
cents, to raise which we levied a tax upon each 
boy, and thus the rabbit became the indivisible 
property of my brothers and myself, who felt the 
responsibility of bringing him up properly. 

Jeannot was so small that we could hold him in 
the palms of our hands, or carry him in our 
pockets. 

He showed from the beginning that he intended 
to live, by resolutely demolishing a carrot that one 
of us pillaged from the kitchen. This appetite gave 
us a high opinion of Jeannot's philosophy. 

For a poor, lone orphan to breakfast so bravely, 
gave evidence of a strong mind and a vigorous 
stomach. 

Breakfast finished with a dessert of the heart of a 
lettuce ; the young rabbit curled himself up on a 
heap of grass, and went to sleep. 

This confidence touched us deeply, and we set 
to work to build him a cabin which should be a 
shelter from rain and cold. 



JEANNOT. 7 1 

A candle-box furnished the timbers, a part of 
the top being left on to serve as roof The inside 
was furnished with straw and hay, and a board in 
ront was taken away to facilitate the proprietor's 
entrance into his mansion, where we strewed vege- 
table leaves, and then each of the three builders 
declared the house complete. 

Jeannot, who was but half asleep, watched us out 
of the corner of his eyes ; and when all was ready, 
he left his hay bed and trotted into his cabin, of 
which he took possession at once, proving that he 
understood the object of the structure. 

He appeared quite satisfied ; indeed he would 
have been foolish if he were not so, when there 
at once he was furnished with table, lodging, 
and service. He had nothing to do except to 
sleep, eat, and grow fat ; and from this time 
forth, he developed in gluttony, laziness, and curi- 
osity. 

His cabin was situated against a stone wall that 
inclosed the little garden, where Pierrette, by 



72 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

miraculous care and diligence, had succeeded in 
raising all sorts of vegetables in a bed of rocks. 

A hedge of hard and pointed thorns closed up 
the opening to the inclosure. 

Jeannot the next day thrust his little nose be- 
tween the interstices of the hedge, and, notwith- 
standing the thorns, succeeded in making his way 
through a hole into the garden. You may judge 
that he dined well that day ! 

At sight of the havoc committed among the cab- 
bages and turnips, Pierrette flew into a passion. 
He spoke of nothing less than of strangling the 
delinquent ; but when he saw our terror lest he 
should really injure the orphan, his anger quickly 
subsided. '' Poor little fellow,'' said he. 

And Jeannot received permission to pillage in 
the old soldier's beds to his heart's content. 

He made such good meals there, that he formed 
the habit of taking frequent naps, and this abun- 
dant food, combined with much sleep, caused him to 
develop rapidly, increasing in strength and beauty. 



JEANNOT. 73 

No rabbit of our acquaintance had finer hair, 
more lustrous coat, ears more silky, or feet more 
agile. In truth, Jeannot was not a miserable cab- 
bage-rabbit but a warren rabbit. He was of good 
family, and showed it by the fineness of his shape, 
and the nobility of his habits. 

But, I was incorrect, when I said he had noth- 
ing to do ; Jeannot had to amuse us ; though we 
were certain that in doing this, he amused himself 
still more. We taught him to draw a* little car- 
riage very nicely, fastened between the traces, by 
an ingenious arrangement of cords. 

Now, Jeannot was no more a rabbit, he had at- 
tained the dignity of a horse. This long-eared 
horse one day ran away. This was terrible ; but, 
what shouts, when we saw him galloping over 
stones and through briers, with the little carriage 
bounding at his tail ! The carriage was soon a wreck. 

One of my cousins, who was of a classical turn 
of mind, compared the poor rabbit to the fierce 
Hippolyta on his chariot. 



74 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

The chariot and steed were caught in the 
middle of a bramble bush. We had a good deal 
of trouble to disentangle them. 

The carriage was in pieces ; Jeannot, terrified, 
trembled with fear. He felt, in his rabbit con- 
science, that he deserved punishment, and curving 
his little spine, indicated by his attitude what he 
expected to receive. But we were so glad to 
have recovered him unhurt, that there was no 
question of chastisement. 

Jeannot, who had three masters, eight or ten 
teachers, or we might say, eight or ten comrades, 
possessed also one friend. 

This friend, four-footed like himself, was a little 
black-and-white spaniel, not very much larger 
than a King Charles. He was about the age 
of the rabbit, and his character was not less jo- 
vial. 

A strong sympathy united them. The one first 
awake in the morning would tickle the other with 
the end of his paw, and then the two friends 



JEANNOT. 75 

showed their pleasure at meeting again by a thou- 
sand gambols. 

Jeannot, who was generous, had offered part of 
his house to the spaniel, who had accepted it. 
They looked upon it as '' our cabin." They were 
not animals without hearth and home. Every 
night regularly, and four or five times during the 
day, they slept in each other's arms. 

Jeannot had invented a play in which the assist- 
ance of the spaniel was indispensable, and the 
spaniel was always ready. 

They played '' wild rabbit and hunting dog.'' 

Jeannot began by hiding in the wood ; then the 
spaniel set forth with tail in air and nose to the 
ground, following the scent. 

When he was on the trail, he started on a gallop, 
and bayed like a hound. 

Jeannot, driven out of his thicket, gained his 
feet, made a thousand detours, and, always followed 
by the spaniel, prolonged this imaginary chase 
through bush and brier. 



76 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

On leaving the wood the spaniel chased in full 
view, the tongue hanging out and ears held back. 

Jeannot redoubled his speed, reached his house, 
and entering would put both paws on the edge of 
the board which formed his door- way, like a per- 
son awaiting at a window the return of a friend. 

When the spaniel arrived, they embraced as ani- 
mals are wont to embrace. 

To this diversion Jeannot added another, which 
was to prepare for us little surprises. 

We often took our walks along the edge of the 
woods (and how much terror these innocent woods 
have caused me!). There was, in the forest, an old 
dilapidated house that we called the Ruin, before 
which I never passed without shivering to my 
bones. 

Jeannot, who loved a joke, would follow us secret- 
ly, and when we had gone some distance, would 
come leaping suddenly about our legs. 

Then, what gambols we had ! 

We all returned together, the wisest of us some- 



JEANNOT. "]"] 

times taking Jeannot apart, and moralizing with 
him. 

''Take care! Jeannot," said he, ''take care! you 
will play truant until you go too far, and will get 
into trouble!" 

But Jeannot took all this in with his long ears, 
and the next day began again. He excused him- 
self because he was young, and youth is naturally 
foolish. 

Formerly there were only boys at Trois-Lucs ; 
now, there came little girls, too. 

Naturally, they became great friends with Jean- 
not. 

As soon as one of them came, she asked for 
Jeannot. Then they held him on their knees and 
in their arms. 

.They taught him numbers of pretty little ways. 

Jeannot learned how to leap a rope and play 
dead ; stretched on a board, and stirring no limb, 
he let himself be carried in funeral procession. 

When he had been very good we taxed our- 



yS HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

selves to buy delicacies. Sometimes we collected 
from four to eight cents. 

What would little boys of the present day say, if 
they knew that at that distant period we felt rich 
with twenty-five cents, and millionnaires with a few 
dollars ? 

Our pennies collected, we bought cakes and pre- 
sented them to Jeannot on our knees. One of the 
little girls who loved him, brought one day some 
burnt almonds and candied chestnuts. To all 
these things Jeannot, who was a rustic rabbit, pre- 
ferred cabbage-leaves, which low taste astonished 
my cousins and made them rather indignant. 

On Sunday they decorated Jeannot's neck with 
a collar. This adornment, which made him look 
very funny, seemed to please him infinitely, for 
Jeannot was very vain. 

By seeing us continually about him, Jeannot had 
learned to know us ; when he was called he would 
run, but if, as a reward for his obedience, he was 
not ojffered a salad-leaf at once, the rabbit showed 



JEANNOT. 79 

his disgust by running away, and sometimes he 
would not return for two hours. 

Then he might be found taking a nap under the 
shadow of a great cabbage. 

By this easy hfe Jeannot had grown large and 
fat, but suddenly a catastrophe put an end to his 
happiness. 

One day, day of misfortune, Jeannot was taking 
his daily walk in the woods, browzing thyme, when 
a dog passed — a hound with a pointed tail and long 
hanging ears. 

Jeannot thought that this was a friend of the 
spaniel, seeking a play-fellow to play '' hunt " with 
him, and set forth. The hound saw him and started, 
yelping, in pursuit. 

''Good!" thought Jeannot, 'T was not mistaken; 
this is fun ! '' 

He ran from bush to bush, from hedge to hedge, 
the hound always yelping at his heels. Jeannot 
was greatly amused. 

At last he ran out of the wood and took his 



8o HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

course towards the cabin. At this moment a 
hunter appeared, a real hunter with gaiters on his 
feet, game-bag on his back, and gun in hand. 

This man had heard it said that there were rabbits 
in the wood of Trois-Lucs, and had wished to see 
with his own eyes whether this was the case. 

Jeannot innocently came out at his door ; the 
hunter saw him, took aim and fired. Alas ! he did 
not miss. Jeannot rolled over, and then raised 
himself, trailing behind him two broken legs. 

We all ran at the report of the gun, but what 
did we see ? the hound had seized Jeannot ! 

We rushed forward with loud cries, and arrived 
in time to snatch Jeannot, panting, from the jaws of 
him whom he had taken for a friend. 

But it was too late ! 

Jeannot's back was broken with a single crunch 
of the great teeth. 

He died in our arms. 

One of the little girls fainted. 

The hunter advanced, a little abashed. '' Ah ! 



JEANNOT. 8 1 

sir, see what you have done, you have killed Jean- 
not, who was so good, and never hurt any one/' 

I believe one of us called the hunter an '' assas- 
sm. 

'' I did not mean it,'' said the man, '' I took him 
for a wild rabbit." 

A wild rabbit ! Jeannot ! with a silk ribbon 
about his neck ! 

In the midst of the general mourning, a big boy, 
he was over twelve, proposed gravely to render 
the last duties to the mortal remains of Jeannot. 

The little girls, who were drying their eyes with 
the ends of their handkerchiefs, consented, think- 
ing the idea very natural. 

The big boy, who liked a joke, found a light pine 
box that had held crackers, laid inside a piece of 
fine white paper, and in this improvised coffin, we 
placed the body of the victim. Two little girls, on 
whom we put white shirts over their dresses, took 
the box and headed the procession, weeping hot 
tears. 



82 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

One was four years old, the other three. A 
third and fourth followed, carrying lighted candles. 

The big boy went first of all, bearer of a cross 
that he had made of two sticks ; while one of his 
comrades rang a bell. The rest of us followed in 
order; the spaniel, with drooping tail, closed the 
funeral train. 

When I think of this affair, I do not deny that 
we all deserved a whipping ; all except the two 
little girls who filled the role of pall-bearers. 

The grave was made at the foot of an olive-tree, 
between two tufts of rosemary. There we buried 
Jeannot in his pine box, on the top of which some 
one fastened with wafers a piece of paper, bearing 
his name, age, and the date of his death, and on 
which mention was made of the regrets of his 
friends. 

The little girls prayed to God on their knees. 
I was not easy in my conscience as to the pro- 
priety of this last ceremony, child as I was. 

The scapegi'ace who had led the afiair, then 



JEANNOT. 83 

delivered a discourse upon the virtues and good 
deeds of Jeannot, but seeing that our Httle com- 
panions were affected to tears, he finished with 
this peroration, '' Console yourselves my friends, 
Jeannot is now happy in the rabbits' paradise." 

I did not quite understand what he meant by 
this. 

When this story was told at home, the big boy 
was punished as he deserved. 

But the dry bread to which he was condemned, 
did not bring back life to poor Jeannot. 



FRIQUET. 

I MADE the acquaintance of Friquet one spring 
day in Marseilles. 

Friquet was a swallow. 

The little rascals who formed the population of 
the household, were then under the care of a 
young lady — aunt to some of us, cousin to others — 
who was rather severe in her method of discipline. 

Her theories on the subject were summed up in 
this formula : 

'' Kill yourselves, if you wish,'' she would say, 
'' but do not make a noise.'' However we did not 
kill ourselves, and we made a diabolical noise. 

One morning a swallow fell down the chimney 
into the dining-room. Fortunately there was no 
fire in the grate, and we picked him up, unhurt by 
his fall ; but what a little, meagre, miserable, for- 
lorn thing it was, and what distressed cries he 
uttered when he opened his beak ! 



FRIQUET. 85 

My aunt adopted him, and Friquet became a 
member of the family. 

He had ten teachers, which is a great deal for a 
small swallow. You should have seen how he 
profited by their lessons, in which the gravity of 
the professor was combined with the giddiness of 
the school-boy. 

At the age of six months, Friquet was an indi- 
dividual of importance, whose reputation extended 
over the whole neighborhood. 

Mischievous as a monkey, gay as a lark, jealous 
as a tiger, cunning as a fox, proud as a peacock, 
and curious as a magpie, he was the admiration of 
every one. I never saw so much vanity and ego- 
tism! Wherever he was, he expected to be the 
centre of attraction. 

Had the mayor himself made us a visit, Friquet 
would not have been willing to forfeit any attention. 
The plumage of Friquet must be admired before 
everything. 

When still very young, Friquet formed the habit, 



86 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

which he never gave up, of sleeping on the top of 
a richly ornamented mirror, which adorned the 
parlor mantel-piece. 

He had, indeed, a cage especially prepared for 
him, and furnished with little sticks, and a com- 
fortable . bed of moss and cotton-wool ; but no ! 
Friquet preferred his mirror, of which the old 
wooden frame was carved with a confused mixture 
of bows and arrows and musical instruments, en- 
vironed with foliage. 

Was it the love of independence^ or taste for the 
fine arts which made him choose this retreat ? He 
never told me. 

Every evening, at exactly eight o'clock, Friquet 
betook himself to his nocturnal perch, on the cor- 
ner of the frame of the mirror, and he was soon 
asleep, with his little head tucked under his wing ; 
noise and light did not disturb him in the least. 

He was a bird of regular habits, and believing 
that night was made for slumber, he slept as 
soon as it became dark ; bel'eving that day was 



FRIQUET. 87 

made for amusement, he did not fail to amuse 
himself. 

Whenever he saw his mistress, he flew and 
perched upon her shoulder, where he would remain 
until his fancy took him elsewhere, caressing her 
neck and cheeks in his bird fashion. In return he 
expected that she would talk to him continually. 
If she neglected him for a moment, in order to 
speak to the cook, or to count the stitches in her 
embroidery, he would behave as one possessed. 

He had not yet acquired that black beak and 
breast, which, with swallows, indicate that they 
have attained their majority ; but already he gave 
evidence of that terrible jealousy natural to his 
race. 

Master Friquet could not endure any kind of 
domestic animal. If a little dog came to the house, 
he flew into a rage, and if one of the family should 
caress it, he would behave like a little demon, and 
finally, would assault, with pecks, him among his 
friends whom he deemed guilty of such treachery. 



88 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

One day, some one gave my aunt a pretty Hol- 
land canary, who sang delightfully. When this new 
pet was introduced into the house, Friquet became 
perfectly foolish with anger. From this moment 
he did not enjoy an hour of repose. He had .but 
one idea, one thought, the canary, always the 
canary ! He grew thin upon it. He was perpetu- 
ally flying about the cage inhabited by the new- 
comer, trying to invent new ways to torment it. 

He tried to frighten it and to prick it with his 
sharp-pointed beak. 

If the canary sang, as it was his business to do, 
the swallow would scream with all his might, until 
he succeeded in silencing his victim. 

When the canary wished to breakfast, Friquet 
made such flights about his cage, that the poor 
thing lost all appetite. 

At last, one evening, a servant happened to for- 
get to close the door of the cage, the canary inno- 
cently came out, and the swallow, who was watching 
his opportunity, killed it in single combat. 



FRIQUET. 89 

The servant found the little Hollander dead in 
the morning, with a hole in his head made by the 
swallow's beak. 

Perched high upon the mirror, Friquet smoothed 
his plumage and made himself fine. The wicked 
fellow seemed to experience a great degree of 
pleasure from contemplating the corpse of his rival. 

No one else thought of offering a bird to my 
aunt, but Friquet received the punishment due to 
murderers, as you will see at the end of my story. 

The canary dead, Friquet grew fat rapidly. He 
showed no remorse, only an enormous appetite. 

There never existed a more impertinent bird. It 
was impossible to keep him in his proper place. 
He regarded all commands as not worth a straw. 

As soon as the family were seated at meals, 
Master Friquet would make his appearance among 
them, a self-invited guest. Strangers did not 
frighten him in the least. With one hop he would 
be upon the table, and while there would not even 
remain in one place. 



90 HISTORY OF I\IY FRIENDS. 

He hovered about among the napkins, examining 
the dishes out of the corner of his eye, was un- 
daunted by the noise of forks and dinking of 
glasses, and even pecked at the biscuits. While 
, turning a deaf ear to all observations upon his con- 
duct, he picked up all the crumbs, and, on the 
whole, enjoyed himself immensely. We gave Fri- 
quet little pieces of sugar in a saucer, for dessert. 

One morning, a window being inadvertently left 
open, Friquet was seized with a desire of explor- 
ing the neighborhood. We gave him up for lost. 
The servant who had left the window open was 
chided, and my aunt was indeed much grieved. 
What chance was there of ever catching such a 
bird again ? 

However, at nightfall, we heard a sharp little tap 
at the window-pane. This was repeated two or 
three times very impatiently. 

My aunt, who was regarding the top of the mir- 
ror with moist eyes, exclaimed, '' It may be Fri- 
quet," and ran to the window. 



FRIQUET. 91 

It was indeed Friquet, who flew into the room 
with a sprightly air. 

But, having once played truant, he had acquired 
a taste for it, and the next day he beat against 
the pane with all his might, returning there as 
often as he was driven away, until it became neces- 
sary to open the window. 

He spread his wings and immediately joined a 
flock of little comrades, who were awaiting him on 
a neighboring roof. 

Friquet, emancipated, showed himself worthy of 
the confidence reposed in him. We had only to 
open the window a little way at breakfast-time, and 
he would immediately appear at the table, and do 
full justice to the bill of fare. 

Sometimes he would appear all out of breath, 
and perching on the shoulder of his mistress, would 
look around, as if to say, 

'' You don't know what a good time I have been 
having. Such a gay party!'* 

The swallow is the vagabond among birds. In 



92 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

four days, Friquet had made fifty acquaintances. 
There was nothing to be seen among them but races 
about the chimneys, noisy reunions upon the leads, 
and meetings on the balconies ; he gained in love- 
liness what he lost in good manners. 

Sometimes, when the dining-room window was 
left open, he would bring in two or three playmates 
to make him a visit. It was evident that Friquet 
was proud of his home, and was not ashamed to 
show it to his friends, who lodged, like vagabonds, 
in the open air. 

One morning he appeared full of business, and 
after two or three little flights about the furniture, he 
disappeared whence he had come, carrying a shred 
cf wool, that he had stolen from a work-basket. 

Friquet had married a young swallow of the 
neighborhood, and expected shortly to become the 
father of a family. 

Like a good father, he built the nest where the 
little swallows about to come into the world would 
learn how to live. 



FRIQUET. 93 

His activity equalled his playfulness. Every 
shred of wool or cotton became his property. He 
had an especial fancy for silk stuffs. 

When we saw what an industrious, good fellow 
he was becoming, we tried to encourage him, by 
leaving about any material that might prove useful 
for his purpose. 

He now spent his whole day in going and com- 
ing. This constant employment amused me im- 
mensely, and I was never tired of watching Friquet 
at his work. As to him, he did not in the least 
object to my presence. 

The home which he built to receive his little 
family was situated between two tiles, under the 
roof of a neighboring house. He worked all the 
time, from daylight to dark. There was no more 
playing, no more parties on the sidewalk, no more 
quarrels around the chimneys. He breakfasted 
hastily, and returned each day to'^his^ work. 

'' Friquet will make a good father of a family," 
said my aunt. 



94 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

One evening he did not return at the usual hour. 
There was great surprise in the house. We all 
stood at the window, wondering whether a misfor- 
tune had befallen Friquet. By no means ; the 
rascal finally appeared, and began fluttering about 
the room, in a proud manner. 

Master Friquet was a father. 

By looking carefully, I could distinguish, rising 
out of the nest between the two tiles, the pretty head 
of a swallow, who was brooding. 

'' See! there is his wife!" I cried. 

Friquet's restlessness increased more yet, when 
the little ones were hatched. He could not remain 
quiet, for his was the responsibility of providing 
food for those little bills, all open at once, and which 
never seemed satisfied. 

We scattered plentiful supplies of bread-crumbs 
and grain, to assist him in his housekeeping. 
Friquet, at the head of a flock of little ones, was a 
changed being. 

He had to bring them up, to teach them to fly, 



FRIQUET. 95 

to feed them, and he entered upon his duties with 
great zeal. The smallest, the '' nestling," as we 
called it, followed him everywhere. Friquet brought 
him to see us. 

I would have liked to keep this little fellow, and 
put it in a cage, but the thought that this would 
trouble Friquet, prevented me. 

When the education of his young ones was 
finished, Friquet returned to his former regular 
habits. This rather troubled me at first, for it 
seemed as though he had deserted his family. I 
reproached him for his unnatural behavior, and he 
did not pretend to defend himself, but I was com- 
forted by my aunt's assurance that that had been 
the habit of swallows since the world was made. 

The following season, Friquet proved to me that 
he had in truth a good heart. The winter was long 
and cold ; it snowed a great deal. One bitter day, 
Friquet tapped at the window, followed by four or 
five comrades, numb with cold. They all fluttered 
into the dining-room after him, crying famine. 



96 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

We understood that Friquet had relied upon 
our generosity, and all my savings were expended 
in meal that I scattered on the balcony. 

We had discovered that Friquet was curious as 
a magpie, fluttering among the furniture, and peep- 
ing into all the drawers. My aunt, laughingly, 
called him ''the inspector." This curiosity almost 
proved fatal to him. 

One evening, urged by this mania for peering 
into things, he went into the wood-box ; a servant, 
who had not yet learned his habits, closed the lid. 

The next day, on his non-appearance, there was 
a great commotion. We looked, called, and be- 
came very uneasy. My aunt ran out upon the bal- 
cony. There was nothing to be seen. Some hours 
passed. Despair fell upon the household. We 
went from door to door, asking whether any one 
had seen Friquet, but nothing was heard of him. 

At last, fortunately, some one wanted a billet of 
wood ; the servant raised the cover, and the crea- 
ture fluttered out. 




FRTQUET. 



FRIQUET. 97 

It was Friquet, furious, exasperated, and half 
dead with hunger. He knocked against all the 
walls, and beat every one with his wings ; a few 
hours more and he would have died of starvation. 

Friquet came to the end that seems to be des- 
tined for swallows. He was too fat for a long life. 
His good condition had attracted the attention of 
a greedy cat who lived near by. This was a gray 
cat who subsisted by thieving. Though a great 
hunter, she sometimes made but a scanty living, 
notwithstanding her agility. 

I had often surprised her in ambuscade on the 
edge of the tiles or in a crevice of the wall that 
surrounded the garden. 

'' Take care of yourself," I would say to Friquet, 
but Friquet scorned danger. 

'' She has only feet," said he, '' and I have 
wings." 

One morning, when the servant opened the 
dining-room door, something passed her like a 
shadow, something silent and gray. 



98 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

The woman uttered a little cry. ''Friquet!" 
called she. 

No response, and when the shutters were opened, 
still no sign of Friquet. Only in moving the fur- 
niture, she discovered some feathers scattered here 
and there. Then she saw what had happened, 
and called to her mistress : 

'' Madame ! Madame ! Friquet is dead." 

My aunt came down-stairs, looked at the feath- 
ers, some of which were stained with blood, and 
fell, half fainting, into a chair. 

'' The cat has certainly eaten him,'' said the ser- 
vant, drying her eyes with the corner of her apron. 

And we all vowed to avenge Friquet. 

My aunt inclosed Friquet's feathers in a pretty 
silk bag, on which she embroidered his portrait. 
It was very well done, and she could not regard it 
without tears in her eyes. 

This little bag became legendary in the house. 
We called it '' Friquet's tomb.'* 

This age is without sentiment. 



MISS NINA. 

This time I am not going to tell you about a 
swallow or a parrot, poor little creatures that a cat 
may kill with a stroke of her paw. 

My story is not even about a watch-dog, nor a 
bear travelling from fair to fair, dragging its chains, 
not at all ! 

No ! our business is with an American lioness, 
one of that species distinguished by naturalists by 
the name of Puma. 

How did I make the acquaintance of Miss Nina ? 
that is just what I am going to tell you. 

One of my brothers, you will remember, had 
brought from Tunis a dromedary, an ostrich, and 
a gazelle, animals which might easily pass for the 
beginning of a menagerie. 

Now my eldest brother, who was a great trav- 
eller, returned one day to Marseilles, accompanied 
by a young lioness, which had first seen daylight 



lOO HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

in the interminable forests of South America, and 
who answered to the name of Nina, which means 
in Spanish '' Little girl/' 

I use the word '' answer " as a figure of rhetoric, 
but when we called her. Miss Nina would set up 
her ears and wink her eyes ; which meant, in lion 
language, '' I hear and I understand!" 

My brother, the oldest of us all, had found Miss 
Nina on the prairies, about thirty leagues from the 
suburbs of Buenos Ayres, after an encounter which 
had cost the life of the old lioness, her mother, 
who died bravely defending her young. 

When taken up by the skin of her neck, Nina, 
who had already learned to gambol about, and 
swing her long tail, had the shape and effect of a 
great cat. 

She made her entrance into the capital of the 
Argentine Republic on the pommel of my broth- 
er's saddle, and seemed by no means disconcerted 
by this mode of travelling. She looked all about 
her, seemed to feel a little astonished at her high 



MISS NINA. lOI 

perch, passed her rough, red tongue over her 
pretty muzzle, and then, Hke a cat, she played with 
the mane of the horse, and with the red and yel- 
low balls adorning the end of along mantle worn 
by the rider 

These balls seemed to fascinate her extremely. 
It was clear that she had never seen anything so 
pretty before. 

At this early period of her life, Nina only loved 
to play, and when wearied with her gambols, to 
eat. 

Now being a lion, she was very fond of fresh 
meat, and of all the variety that was offered her, 
she preferred sheep. 

Having had plenty of beef from her infancy, 
Miss Nina, tired of roasts and bloody steaks, 
cared now only for lamb cutlets and legs of mut- 
ton. Her name, Nina, had been given her by a 
''Signorita'' of the country, who greatly admired 
her elegance and the grace of her movements. 

This lady gave Nina a pretty red silk collar, and 



I02 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

would lead her by a silk cord. Nina had no objec- 
tion to following her, but her sudden appearance 
in drawing-rooms never failed to create surprise. 

My brother gave her for a companion to enliven 
her captivity, a pretty little dog, with whom she 
lived on good terms. The two animals were en- 
closed in a court, or ''patio" as it is called in 
Buenos Ayres, and there they would play and 
gambol in a very amusing manner. 

At last one evening, dreadful cries brought 
every one to the patio. There was Miss Nina 
calmly making a meal of her friend. 

This was a sad spectacle, and henceforth all little 
boys and girls were forbidden to approach Miss 
Nina. She was too fond of fresh meat. 

In spite of her fierce appetite, the lioness had 
an almost filial affection for my brother. As soon 
as she perceived him she would jump for joy, run 
towards him, and raising herself on her velvet 
paws, express her feelings by rather rough ca- 
resses. 



w 



> 




MISS NINA. 103 

Then for a time the traveller and the lioness 
would enjoy a thousand plays together. I should 
say that on these occasions my brother was always 
armed with a stout rattan, with which he some- 
times calmed the familiarities of his young friend, 
after which he regaled her with delicacies from a 
neighboring butcher's shop. 

Miss Nina grew large and handsome, and it be- 
came necessary to give up the pretty red collar 
and slender silk cord, not that she seemed wicked, 
but her fancy might lead her some time to too 
great familiarity with the passers-by, and this does 
not please every one. 

The idea of a stronger chain occurred to my 
brother one day when Miss Nina, having escaped, 
fell into the midst of a party of city ladies, who 
were enjoying their evening walk. You may im- 
agine what a stampede was the result. Nina 
leaped and gambolled about among them, some 
cloaks which they had dropped in their terror 
served her for playthings ; she tore them into little 



I04 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

pieces with her teeth, and imagined the flight of 
the ladies was a new sort of game, invented for 
her especial amusement. My brother being ad- 
vised, hastened to the scene of action, not, how- 
ever, before .Nina had destroyed many dollars' 
worth of lace. 

Nina followed him with a good enough grace, 
Hke a school-boy who returns to his lessons after 
recess. 

My brother left Buenos Ayres on a schooner 
laden with cattle-horns. It was a miserable affair, 
a good sailer, but -very small, and half under 
water a great portion of the time. Miss Nina was 
shipped just as the schooner weighed anchor, pre- 
paratory to sailing for Marseilles. There had 
been made, for her convenience during the voy- 
age, a fine strong cage, that would hold its place 
on the boat. She was not sea-sick, neither did 
the sight of the ocean produce any effect upon 
her. 

There were four men to sail the schooner, the 



MISS NINA. I05 

captain, mate, one sailor and a cabin-boy, and but 
one passenger, my brother. The sailor was also 
cook, the cabin-boy valet de chambre. 

Now the mate thought fit to fall ill, so my 
brother was promoted to his office, at the same 
time Miss Nina was raised to the rank of sailor. 
It was a storm which gave her this position. 

The day of the storm, four pair of arms, of 
which one pair was very small, were not found 
sufficient to manoeuvre the sails. 

The sheets flapped about the deck,. and it was 
not convenient to fasten them to the cleats. My 
brother, becoming impatient, threw the end of 
the sheet of the main-sail, that was waving and 
flapping in the wind, into Nina's cage, saying, 
'' Hold that." The animal squatted up and clasped 
her sharp claws about the rope. The wind blew 
still harder, but the more it blew the more strongly 
Nina held on ; and there was no more difficulty 
with the sheets. 

After Miss Nina became sailor, her rations were 



I06 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

doubled on windy days. She probably wished 
diat every day would be stormy. 

When the schooner arrived at Marseilles, one 
of the little boats which are always rocking in the 
harbor took me on board, and there I first saw 
Miss Nina face to face. 

Our first meeting was unpromising. I saw her 
squatting on the bottom of her cage, in a corner, 
with her muzzle between her paws, and her tail agi- 
tated by a nervous motion ; then she gave low growls 
that made her sides palpitate, and put herself into 
an attitude of attack. I wished to approach, but 
she made one bound and clung standing to the 
side of the cage, near which I was standing. My 
brother pulled me quickly away by my arm. 

**Nina!" he said. The lioness fell back into 
her former position ; he advanced, while she lay 
down, still growling. 

He passed his hand over her coat, and she was 
silent, closed her eyes, and began to play with her 
tail. Nina's anger was appeased. 



MISS NINA. 107 

'' You see she is a lamb/' said my brother to 
me. 

This creature had tigerish jealousies. She 
hated all children, but me especially, because she 
had seen my brother caressing me. 

My brother, during the few days that she re- 
mained on board, tried to tame her towards me. 
He succeeded, by a happy mixture of reprimands 
and caresses, in making her allow me to touch her 
shoulder or her paw with the ends of my fingers. 
But what diplomacy and what delicate morsels 
were necessary to arrive at this result! 

I was in mortal terror, but a feeling of vanity 
incited me, for how many of the boys could boast 
of intimacy with a lion ? 

When at last it became necessary to disembark 
the beast, the question was, what to do with her. 

Of course she could not be brought home. Al- 
though my brother and I had boasted of the gen- 
tleness of her character, and the quietness of her 
disposition, my father would not listen to us. 



I08 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

Miss Nina was lodged in a store-house hired for 
the purpose. Now this was exile, and she fell into 
a deep melancholy, although my brother visited 
her always once, and sometimes twice a day. 

Nina had few hours of gayety in her retired life. 
She pined in solitude in the obscurity of the store- 
house, of which the doors were always kept shut. 

Now, her lodging and food were a great expense, 
and a change must be made. 

It was now Fair-time in Marseilles. The fair of 
St. Lazarus lasted fifteen days, and during that time 
the Court d'Aix was covered with barracks, to the 
delight of the children. 

This fair attracted to Marseilles a great concourse 
of mountebanks, horse dealers, and showmen of wild 
beasts. 

A menagerie came, which camped on the plain 
St. Michel. This was the looked-for opportunity, 
and Miss Nina was sold to the proprietor. 

The companionship of tigers, African lions, pan- 
thers, bears, and jaguars did not draw her out of her 



MISS NINA. 109 

melancholy. She i-emained crouching in a corner 
of her cage from morning to night, and only raised 
herself when my brother came. I always accom- 
panied my brother in his daily visits. When Nina 
scented our approach, she would rub her nose 
against the bars of her cage, with transports of joy. 

The spectators were greatly astonished when 
they saw a young man and a boy approach the 
cage, talking to and caressing a lion. 

She would give little moans, while she licked our 
hands, in such a melancholy manner, that some 
kind-hearted women wept with sympathy. 

The fair over, the menagerie left, and we had to 
bid farewell to Miss Nina. My brother was greatly 
moved, as well as I. Happily the poor beast did 
not understand that she embraced us for the last 
time. 

Six months later, we heard of the death of Miss 
Nina. She had died at Lyons, of consumption. 



BISCOTTE AND BIJOU. 

Friquet had found his tomb in a cat's stomach ; 
but, Friquet dead, there remained one other bird in 
the house. 

I had always seen him there. When he made 
his first appearance, he was older than I by some 
years. I considered Biscotte quite as part of the 
furniture. 

Only he was a piece of furniture who moved, 
and had wings. 

Biscotte belonged to that species of parrots who 
are gray, with red heads, that one sees every- 
where. 

He received his name on account of a particular 
taste he had for that sort of dry chestnuts, called in 
Marseilles, biscottes, and of which all the grocers of 
the country keep quantities for the delectation of 
school-boys. This taste became with him, as he 
advanced in years, a perfect passion. 



BISCOTTE AND BIjOU. I I I 

He would crunch them by dozens, and every 
time a biscotte entered his beak, he had a way of 
expressing his delight, by winking his eyes. If one 
wished to be in his good graces, it must be through 
the means of a biscotte. I think if there were a 
court for the trial of parrots, Biscotte would have 
been brought up often enough. A day rarely 
passed without leaving him with a theft upon his 
conscience. 

When .1 first knew Biscotte, he seemed to me a 
grave and composed person, who counted his 
s'teps. In his gray dress and red cap, he had the 
effect of a magistrate. His manners were those of 
a prince ; he would salute you with a haughty air, 
and when he tendered you his claw, as parrots do, 
he seemed to say '' You may kiss my hand.'' 

In my childish imagination, I always thought 
that Biscotte's father must have been king over a 
flock of birds in. his native forests. 

We were united by one common hatred. 

There was in the house an abominable little dog, 



112 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. . 

who, to-day, would be worth his weight in gold. 
He belonged to a species that had almost passed 
away until recently, when it has been, unfortunately, 
revived. 

Bijou — that was his name — was a pug of the true 
kind. He had a coffee-colored coat, a black nose, 
and eyes round like balls, a short thick body, with 
a horrid, trumpet-shaped tail. 

There never existed a more ill-tempered charac- 
ter. He growled all the time ; even while sleeping, 
he growled. He was also both vain and glutton- 
ous. _ 

Now, Bijou was always after me, barking and 
trying to bite me, and I detested him. These 
two, Biscotte and Bijou, represented Eteocles and 
Polynices, the one clothed with feathers, the other 
with hair. 

What had made them enemies was a vice that 
they possessed equally, gluttony. 

Everything had to be locked away from them. 
Biscotte would make quick work of a whole jar of 



BISCOTTE AND BIJOU. I I 3 

preserves, and Bijou could empty a plate of crack- 
nels in the twinkling of an eye. 

They would fight like beasts for a jumble. 

Biscotte, who had seen me give sly kicks to 
Bijou, had admitted me into his friendship. He 
would take walks on my shoulder, and from this 
high position, look down scornfully upon Bijou, who 
was forced to go on foot. 

They once had a great quarrel on account of a 
macaroon. 

Biscotte received one every day for his dessert. 
Like a provident bird, he would only eat half and 
save the remainder for his supper. The lower 
platform of his perch would serve for a store-room. 

Bijou, curious as a magpie, and greedy as a cat, 
had remarked this, and began regularly to steal 
the half macaroon saved by the parrot, as a school- 
boy will steal the top of his neighbor. 

Returning from his daily walks that he was 
allowed to take in the apartment, Biscotte would 
cast his eye into his store-room. No macaroon. 



114 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

He was furious, and looked under the perch and 
in the seed-cups, but nothing was to be seen of the 
lost half macaroon. 

While he looked here and there, Bijou followed 
him with his eye, wrinkling his black nose,'and look- 
ing as though he were laughing in his sleeve, and 
saying, '' Look away, my good friend, if you find 
anything you will be very smart." 

This daily disappearance of a half macaroon did 
not seem natural to Biscotte. Even a half maca- 
roon will not vanish of itself. While seeking it, he 
said to himself, '' Somebody has taken it.'' The 
somebody was that hateful little pug. 

Animals have more reason than we think. One 
afternoon Biscotte put himself on the watch on top 
of a screen, playing dead. 

Emboldened by success. Bijou, who did not think 
of looking so high, marched right to the perch like 
a rolling ball, raised himself on his hind legs, and 
drew the macaroon towards him with the end of 
his tongue. Suddenly, something came down on 



BISCOTTE AND BIJOU. Il5 

him from above. It was Biscotte, who flew to the 
defence of his property. Taken in the act, Bijou 
could not deny the theft. What a duel followed ! 

Biscotte, who had right on his side, bit his oppo- 
nent with his sharp beak, drawing blood with every 
bite. Bijou barked ; Biscotte, beating her Avings, 
pursued him into corners ; I applauded. Bijou, 
entirely defeated and covered with blood, took 
refuge; in the kitchen under the skirts of a cook, 
who liked him for his ugliness. 

Master of the battle-field, Biscotte took the 
piece of macaroon and eat it joyfully. Bijou never 
robbed the parrot again ; and this adventure made 
him more of a coward than ever. At the slightest 
sound he thought the parrot was swooping down 
upon him. 

One evening, while occupied in digesting some 
of the fruit of his rapines, he perceived his shadow 
projected on the wall in a fantastic shape, by a 
lamp that the nurse had deposited on the ground. 

Bijou, being frightened, tried to move. The 



I 1 6 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

shadow moved also, agitating a tail that twisted 
like a serpent. 

Terrified, Bijou arose, and the shadow rose too, 
and the pug galloped away, followed by his imagi- 
nary enemy. Bijou only felt safe when hidden 
under the sofa. 

'' Poor beast," said the cook, '' every one tor- 
ments it." 

Biscotte, victorious, had now full sway, for Bijou 
kept out of his path. 

The parrot would walk about the table at meal 
time ; he trotted so adroitly over the cloth, without 
ever upsetting anything, that he was permitted this 
indulgence. He tasted everything. 

In this way he formed a taste for strong liquors 
and coffee, curapoa, anisette, rum, and chartreuse — 
he refused nothing. His great black tongue would 
empty easily the little glasses. Sometimes he 
became a little intoxicated. Biscotte intoxicated 
was an irresponsible being. He would dance and 
sing like mad. Sleep alone would silence him ; 



BISCOTTE AND BIJOU. Il7 

but should Bijou come in the way before he had 
slept, woe be unto him ! 

In the twinkling of an eye, Biscotte was upon 
him, the claws buried in Bijou's back, and his beak 
in his neck. 

The pug had to be taken from him ; Biscotte 
never forgot the macaroon. 

Some good qualities compensated for this defect 
in his character. Biscotte, although born in a 
savage country, had a strong desire to learn. He 
would listen eagerly, perched on one foot, and re- 
member ends of phrases that he would repeat with 
pleasure as soon as he knew them by heart. 

A born observer, Biscotte had remarked that 
this phrase of five words, '' Will you have some 
tea?'' often occurred in the conversation at certain 
hours when the servant brought to the table a tray 
loaded with cups and baskets of cake. 

Now it struck Biscotte that there must be some 
mysterious connection between this phrase and 
these cakes ; he tried, therefore, to learn it. 



T T 8 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

One evening, being perched on the back of a 
chair, with one foot and head erect, he saw the 
tray brought in, and cried out at once — 

'' Will you have some tea ? " a laugh went round 
the table. 

''Bravo, Biscotte!" cried some one; and each 
one of the company filled his or her cup. 

But this was not what Biscotte wished, and he 
flew into a passion. He began to leap and fly 
about, running here and there, and bounding from 
the table on to the knees of the company, repeating 
over and over, '' Will you have some tea ? Will 
you have some tea ? Will you have some tea ? '' 

His tongue went like a mill-wheel. He made a 
frightful hubbub, but it Avas so funny that we Avere 
obliged to laugh. At last, one of my brothers, 
growing impatient with the tumult, filled a cup 
with tea which he offered to Biscotte, who was pi- 
rouetting on the table. 

'' Here is some tea ! A/bw, will you be quiet ? " 

He was still at once, as if by magic. Dipping 



BISCOTTE AND BIJOU. II9 

his beak in the fragrant hot Hquid, of which he 
wanted to have his share, and take a good piece 
of cake with his claw, he gave himself up to pleas- 
ure ; expressing his satisfaction by gestures. 

From this evening, Biscotte had his regular place 
at table, he would not sleep until he had well 
supped. 

Bijou, in the mean while, growled enviously in 
his corner, but the cook comforted him with a 
tithe of the best of everything. 

Thanks to this. Bijou grew so large and fat, that, 
in the distance, he had the appearance of a muff, 
to which some one had fastened a tail. His feet 
were lost to sight. When he mounted the stair- 
case, he hung his tongue and panted. 

We children, little rogues that we were, took 
great pleasure in sending him to the top story, 
using, as a spur, a little switch, with the end of 
which we would tickle his short thighs. 

With each touch of the whip. Bijou ascended 
one step. Biscotte always followed on the balus- 



I20 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

trade. When he reached the top, Bijou, perfectly 
overcome, would go to sleep, and Biscotte, flutter- 
ing round him with a mocking air, never failed to 
give him numerous bites to wake him up. 

Like many other animals, Biscotte had a horror 
of ill-dressed people ; and the sight of rags would 
force from him cries of rage. 

This aversion made him the hero of an adven- 
ture. 

One evening, in the winter, a bad-looking beg- 
gar got into the house. Bijou, a great coward, hid 
under the sofa, without making a sound. 

The beggar, seeing no one, entered the dining- 
room, and began to make up a parcel of everything 
he could lay hands upon. But Biscotte saw him, 
and he began to run up and down the vestibule, 
uttering loud cries, and making the house echo 
with all the phrases he knew. 

At this tumult, the cook came out of the kitchen, 
armed with a great iron spoon, intending to punish 
the noisy fellow. 



BISCOTTE AND BIJOU. 12 1 

She saw the thief, threw her spoon at him, and 
ran screaming away. Biscotte redoubled his cries. 

This infernal noise drew us all out of our rooms, 
and we rushed down the stairs, which trembled 
under our heavy shoes. 

The startled thief vanished in the twinkling of 
an eye, dropping his booty*. 

We found Biscotte behaving like a perfect devil, 
beating her wings about the room, as the beggar 
disappeared at the end of the street. 

An extra supply of macaroons was voted to 
the parrot. We compared him to the geese of 
the capitol, while Bijou was treated with well- 
m.erited contempt. 

Unfortunately, Biscotte was destined to pay 
dearly for his aversion to old clothes. 

He was generally set at liberty at breakfast- 
time, but one day, I do not know how, he got 
free very early, trailing an end of chain by his 
claw. 

A charcoal-dealer passed by, carrying on his 
6 



122 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

shoulders a bag of charcoal, himself black as his 
merchandise. Biscotte threw himself impetuously 
upon him, half running, half flying, and bit him 
severely. The charcoal-dealer, exasperated, with 
a blow sent the parrot rolling through the vesti- 
bule. Biscotte raised himself, turned round and 
fell again. 

'' Will you have some tea ? " he screamed, 
stretched his legs, beat his wings and died. 

The charcoal-man had killed him. 

In an instant we were all about the poor bird, 
who would never again drink tea nor steal maca- 
roons. On that day Bijou was full of frolic. 

Some time after Bijou died of an indigestion ; 
wretched cur that he was, no one regretted him 
except the cook. 



PERETTE. 

If, like the goat in the fable, Perette did not 
carry a pot of milk. 

Well posed on her back, 

she carried it in her ba^s, Avhich were always ^full 
of fragrant milk. 

Perette naturally belonged to a troop of goats 
which, over hill and valley, browsed upon the grass 
about Marseilles. Her white coat recommended 
her in the eyes of a lady who had a little boy 
needing a nurse. There was none to be found in 
the neighborhood, or at Aries or Manosque, and 
the little one growing hungry, they decided, in de- 
fault of a woman, to take a goat. Her spotless 
white coat was only equalled by her blameless 
character and the sweetness of her disposition. 

The first time I saw Perette, she was fulfilling 
her professional duties. Standing upright, with 
her fore paws on the edge of a cradle, she was 



124 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

gravely offering her bags to the hungry mouth of 
a little man, who seized them in both hands with 
an activity and an air of enjoyment which spoke 
in favor of his appetite. 

Promoted to the position of a nurse, Perette 
showed herself worthy of the confidence placed in 
her, and by her attentions and punctuality might 
have been an example to many women. A back 
staircase connected the room where the baby 
slept, who depended upon her milk, and the court 
opening on the stable where Perette herself hved. 
With the earliest daylight she was before the 
door waiting and bleating. If no one came to 
her call, she would give double knocks with her 
sturdy paw^s, until the door was opened. Then in 
four bounds she mounted the stairway, entered the 
room, and talked in her way with her nursling, 
who was never weary of pulling her beard. 

At sunset the same thing was repeated. 

Perette always came on a gallop, leaving behind 
her all the horned inhabitants of the stables, 



PERETTE. 125 

breaking through all barriers, and running right to 
the plot of grass where the little man was rolling, 
awaiting her. 

Perette did not like new faces. When any one 
that she did not know tried to caress her foster 
son (she had a fixed idea that the child was her 
own), she would examine the new-comer, and 
would not suffer the baby to be touched until 
assured of the good intentions of the person, 
whoever it might be. 

Although Perette found great difficulty in giving 
her confidence to human beings, she had only 
hatred and contempt for all manner of quadrupeds. 

As soon as she perceived one, she would run to 
the intruder and declare war, without taking the 
trouble to hear any explanation. 

Then, what battles ensued ! A great, tawny dog 
possessed in particular the faculty of irritating her. 
I never saw a more disagreeable and ugly animal 
than this dog, whose name was Perdreau. His 
head was that of a mastiff, his body like a hound. 



126 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

his tail like a spaniel's ; he might have been a grey- 
hound, to judge by his ears, a poodle by his paws, a 
bull-dog by his neck, and a King Charles by his 
eyes, which were quite round. 

Perdreau was always dirty, up to his neck, and 
whenever his paws were especially muddy, he 
never failed to place all four on the first dress that 
came in his way. 

Not that he wished to dry them, No ! it was 
pure spitefulness. 

Perdreau imagined that he had a right to play 
with all the babies that came in his way. But 
Perette did not see the sense of that. 

She knew Perdreau to be capable of putting his 
paw over her nursling's nose, or to throw him to the 
ground, under pretense of caressing him. When 
the little fellow was put upon the grass, Perdreau, 
who might be wandering round seeking some mis- 
chief to do, would run up with his tail in the air. 

Perette, who was on the watch, came to meet 
him, with lowered head. Then ensued a great 



PERETTE. 127 

shock of horns and noses. Neither dog nor goat 
would give way. 

It Avas only who should return more quickly to 
the charge. 

The dog seemed to say, 

" I w^ant to play, and I have a right to do so." 

The other seemed to answer, 

''You cannot play, go off and take a walk." 

And then the battle would recommence, until 
Perdreau, wounded by repeated buttings, would 
beat a retreat, barking. Having been wet-nurse, 
Perette wished to be dry-nurse, too. When the 
little one was old enough to hold himself upright, 
Perette took it into her head to teach him how to 
walk, and no real nurse could have brought more 
zeal to the task. 

Having no hand to give to the child, Perette let 
him hold on by the long hair of her sides, to which 
he hung with all his strength, and the goat and the 
child would go side by side, the one tottering, the 
other licking the little head for encouragement, and 



128 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

crouching when he fell, that he might get a new 
hold on to her side. When her pupil murmured, 
after the fashion of children who try to articulate 
words, Perette responded by bleatings, of which 
she varied the caressing gamut. I always thought 
that they understood each other marvellously. 

At last came a marked day in the life of Perette. 
It was as though some one had broken her pot of 
milk. Although the child sucked a long time, it 
must not suck forever. The little boy, whom Perette 
looked upon as her son, as a two-footed goat, must 
be weaned. This is how it was done. 

The real mother, one evening, took the little 
boy, and set out by night for the city, leaving 
Perette in the midst of her comrades. The next 
day, at dawn, Perette ran, as she always did, to the 
door leading to the nursery, climbed slowly the 
staircase, and entered the room where she was 
accustomed to be received with cries of joy. She 
pulled aside the curtains of the crib, but it was 
empty. 



PERETTE. 129 

She remained an instant undecided, then looked 
around, rushed out impetuously, and went from 
room to room, seeking and bleating. 

The baby was nowhere. 

Alarmed, she ran out to the grass-plot, where 
the evening before she had had him. 

Nothing ! 

Then suddenly Perette began to gallop all round, 
running up and down stairs, and through the corri- 
dors, raging through the bed-rooms, making the 
tour of the house from attic to cellar, always bleat- 
ing, and stopping in her way every one she met 
with her nose, as though she said : 

'' Where is he ? What have you done with 
him? I want him." 

And then she would go over the same ground 
again. She ran so all day, there was not a corner 
where she did not poke her nose. 

She looked like a goat who had lost its mind. 

The next day the whole thing was gone over 
again. 



130 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS.. 

They said, '' She will get over it ! in another day 
she will have forgotten him.'* 

But this was not the case, Perette never forgot 
her nursling, and expressed her grief by continued 
bleating. 

At last they married her, hoping that she might 
find consolation in family cares; and as she soon 
became the mother of two little goats, she was able 
in some degree to forget her loss. 

But indeed ! she remembered more than one 
would suppose, as was proved by the following 
incident : 

A country woman, who was nursing a little girl, 
and who had seen Perette occupied in the same 
manner, thought one day when she had not quite 
enough for her baby, that she would try to make 
the goat assist her. 

For an instant Perette examined the child all 
about very carefully, and seemed quite affected ; 
but the moment that the mother raised the little 
girl to allow it to nurse, Perette performed a 



PERETTE. 131 

pirouette, and, instead of presenting her bags, 
butted at her with her horns. 

A second attempt was followed by a similar 
result. Nothing would persuade Perette ; it was 
clear that she had not forgotten her first nursling. 
Perette was the most obstinate of goats ; having 
once taken a resolution, she never wavered. No 
baby ever again tasted her milk. 

From the day when she showed her will, Perette 
recognized no other authority. She seemed to 
consider herself a privileged person, to whom 
everything was allow^ed because of the position 
which she had once filled. 

No inclosure could keep her, she respected no 
garden. If she saw a cabbage which pleased her, 
she would soon give it a bite, laughing in her 
beard at the gardener, who did not know how to 
protect his vegetables. 

So Perette made her breakfast of carrots, and 
her dinner of lettuce, with strawberries or currants 
for dessert, according to the season. 



132 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

If the gardener chased her with a stick or club, 
she would run off only to return by a hole in the 
hedge before a quarter of an hour had passed. 

She would only stay long enough to digest what 
she stole the first time. 

If a farm boy, who was new on the place, 
expressed astonishment at the mercy with which 
she was treated, the gardener would explain, while 
wiping his forehead, '' You know it is the young 
master's nurse.' 

''The young master'' was not yet three feet 
high. 

But Perette's independent habits were at last the 
cause of her death. 

She wandered about by herself, apart from the 
herd and keeper. One morning she was seen to 
enter a wood, and by evening she had not yet 
come out. 

When the whole neighborhood was searched for 
her, nothing was found except some tufts of hair, a 
broken horn, and the end of a foot. 



PERETTE. 133 

A wolf must have passed that way. 

The gardener was the only one who did not 
regret Perette. I think in the bottom of his heart 
he was even glad, for the sake of his asparagus. 



TAMBOUR. 

If there ever was a curious dog, it was Tambour. 

I made his acquaintance at the house of a friend. 

It was an autumn morning, and very foggy, 
when my friend, who was a landholder in my 
neighborhood, found this worthy dog seated at his 
door. 

The house stood by the side of a road which 
separated it from a great prairie, sloping towards 
the Seine. A quickset hedge, inclosed with a light 
railing, extended round the place. 

Tambour leaped the hedge in order to get to 
the steps. 

When he perceived my friend, the dog raised 
himself on his hind legs, wagged his tail, which, as 
we all know, is an expression of content with dogs, 
and began to bark with all his might, jumping and 
capering about at the samx time. 

He looked frolicsome and good-natured. 



TAMBOUR. 135 

*' Do you know this animal?" asked my friend 
of me. 

-No!" 

Upon this my friend patted the dog's back, and 
started off to fish. 

The dog followed, but of this my friend, who is 
very absent-minded, took no notice. 

But, at evening, returning with his fish flapping 
about on fresh leaves on the bottom of a basket, 
he saw the spaniel, and petted him. The dog 
barked with joy. 

That night. Tambour was left outside. The next 
morning, as my friend opened the door, there was 
the poor beast crouched on the step. 

''There is the dog !" said he. 

The spaniel raised himself, wagged his tail, and 
leaped about my friend, barking with all his might. 
But his gambols were less light, and his voice more 
feeble. 

'' Perhaps he has eaten nothing since yesterday," 
said my friend. 



136 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

The dog squatted down, wagging his tail, as if 
to say — 

'' Why, that is very true/' 

My friend, touched with pity, took him to the 
kitchen, where he made a breakfast that testified 
to his having fasted the day before. This refresh- 
ment gave new Hfe to his froHcs. The next day 
he came again. When my friend saw him in the 
garden, which he had entered through the hole, he 
could not help laughing. 

'' I think," cried he, '' the dog has adopted us." 

The spaniel assented to this by barking with a 
force and intensity that testified his approbation. 
His paws hardly touched the earth, and were upon 
our shoulders, when a second before he had been 
between our legs. 

From that morning the dog became part of the 
establishment, and received all the advantages of 
food and lodging. 

But, from the first day, he gave evidence of the 
curiosity with which he was endowed. 



TAMBOUR. 137 

He poked his nose into every corner of the 
house, beginning with the kitchen, and not omit- 
ting cellar and granary. 

Now it was time to give him a name, and while 
we were debating upon it he jumped about us, 
barking in a deafening manner. 

''I see now," said my friend; ''we will call him 
Tambour, he is such a noisy fellow." 

At the end of a week all the country knew Tam- 
bour. 

He could not pass by an open door without 
being seized with a strong desire to see what 
was inside. This desire he never resisted, be- 
cause Tambour had a great respect for his own 
ideas. 

If the door was wide open, he entered at once ; 
if half open, he pushed it. Once in the house, he 
searched here and there with the air of some one 
fulfilling a mission. 

Nothing escaped him, neither black corners nor 
dark closets. Sometimes even he would poke his 



138 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

nose into the pots on the fire, but he never took 
anything, being a well-bred dog, and not one of 
those who steal everything they see. 

People became soon so accustomed to him that 
he was allowed to go everywhere, so that when the 
house door opened suddenly, as though blown by 
the wind, or a silky form, at the end of which wag- 
gled a tail, passed between the legs of the propri-. 
etor warming himself before the fire, he said, with- 
out disturbing himself: 

'' It is only Tambour.'' 

The spaniel at last formed the habit of making a 
visit to the village every morning. The dogs of 
the neighborhood, who loved him for his good 
nature and the spirit with which he would play 
with them, formed his escort. 

When they urged him to join them, and he did 
not wish to, he would stand still a few minutes, and 
moving his tail, would say to them distinctly as pos- 
sible, '' I have no time to-day." 

After which he directed his steps towards the 



TAMBOUR. 139 

river banks, where he was pretty sure to find his 
master, who had a passion for fishing. 

Tambour, who knew his mania, came then to the 
border of the Seine, panting, with his tongue hang- 
ing out of his mouth, but barking in the distance 
to announce his approach. Sometimes, Tambour 
did not find any one in the places his master 
was most fond of. Then, he would look across the 
river, and if he perceived him under a willow^ or in 
his boat. Whisk! with one bound Tambour leaped 
into the water, and was soon swimming across the 
Seine. 

How happy he Avas when he reached the other 
shore, and how he splashed us in shaking himself! 

He chose the hour after his return for recreation 
and games of catch. 

No dog in the neighborhood could organize 
games with more good-humor and fun. 

As soon as Tambour was seen running, his tail 
streaming in the wind, in the avenue of the 
chateau, they all knew what he meant. 



140 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

All the canine race gathered to the spot, yelping, 
some in the major, others in the minor key, each 
according to his powers, all with enthusiasm. 

In four bounds, Tambour would organize his 
troupe, and, scolding a hound, pressing a poodle, 
exciting a greyhound, cajoling a bull-dog, he put all 
in motion. Then followed races of all sorts. 

But Tambour and his comrades amused them- 
selves like well-bred dogs. There were no quar- 
rels, never any disputes, and only a few discus- 
sions, which Tambour permitted to a female dog 
for whom he had a weakness, although she had a 
refractory character. 

Tambour never failed to forget the dinner-hour 
while playing ; then suddenly being reminded by 
his appetite, he would set off on a trot, and disap- 
pear in the depths of the park. 

Then, how he would leap the hedge ; how he 
would rush into the house and about the table, 
blowing and panting, as though he was quite ex- 
hausted ! 



TAMBOUR. 141 

And if his master, trying to tease him, would 
say, '' So much the worse for you, Tambour. It is 
all gone ! " Tambour would not believe a w^ord, 
and expressed himself so well* by voice and 
gesture that he always received some good mor^ 
sels. 

On the meadow, which sloped gently to the 
Seine, the banks of which were bordered with 
willows and poplars, pastured a great number of 
cows, mixed with which were some goats and two 
or three dozen sheep, confided to the care of an 
old shepherd and a young dog. 

Tambour lived on a footing of great intimacy 
with the whole party. 

He had even succeeded in winning the regard 
of a master bull, who did not like his domains to 
be invaded, and who, the first day he perceived 
the spaniel, had offered him battle. 

Tambour had been pleased to invite him to play 
with him, which invitation the bull, who was yet 
young, had finally accepted. 



142 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

Every day after breakfast, Tambour paid a visit 
to his flock. He inspected the cows, caressed the 
old shepherd, conversed with his dog, said "good- 
day " to the bull, and never failed to make a tour 
of the shore, in order to send back the sheep, 
whose youth and inexperience led them to go too 
near the river. When advice was not sufficient, he 
would enforce it by a light reprimand, applied more 
with his lips than with his teeth. This was only 
to frighten them. 

I said that Tambour was giddy. It was that 
alas L which cost him his life. 

It was towards the end of January. One morn- 
ing, after having trotted through the village as he 
always did, he set out to seek his master. 

Not finding him at his usual place. Tambour 
raised his nose, and a pale ray of sunlight piercing 
the mist showed him his master pushing his boat 
towards the opposite bank. 

It had been very cold during the night, the river 
was full of floating cakes of ice ; it was swollen too, 



TAMBOUR. 143 

and overflowed the banks ; but Tambour was so 
much in the habit of crossing it that he did not 
hesitate. 

With a bound he was in the rushing torrent. 
The mist had settled again. An opaque veil of 
fog covered the surface of the river. Pieces of ice 
dashing together, floated by. 

Soon my friend and I lost sight of Tambour. 
We called, and rowed in the direction where we 
had last seen him. 

There was nothing there. We listened, but 
heard only the blocks of ice crashing against the 
boat or against each other. 

Suddenly a low despairing bark sounded from 
the distance. It was like a call. 

''It is Tambour, he is drowning!" said my 
friend. 

He called with all his might, while rowing the 
boat in the direction whence the cry came*". 

We looked at each other without speaking. 
Under some circumstances the death even of a 



144 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

dog is a calamity. There was no response to my 
friend's call ; we still rowed about, looking here 
and there. 

The river was deserted except by the silent fog. 

We had to give up the hope of finding Tambour. 
Perhaps an ice -block had crushed him, perhaps he 
had been seized by cold and cramps. 

The river never gave him up. 

For a long time after I would seem to hear in 
the night the call of Tambour. It always woke me 
with a start. 

The dogs of the neighborhood came for many 
days prowling about the house, barking and calling 
their lost comrade, who would never respond to 
them again. The bull had a mystified air, and the 
shepherd's dog howled and lamented. When my 
friend heard them, he would pass his hand quickly 
over his eyes. 



HUNTER AND RALPH. 

Hunter and Ralph were two horses, whose 
acquaintance I made in Algiers, a very long time 
since. 

Algiers was then a city around which prowled 
cavaliers, who sought their fortune at the expense 
of every one else. One did not dare venture too 
far into the country, for though there were plenty 
of red partridges, and many rabbits, one might also 
lose one's head. Travellers were often brought 
into the city without clothes. 

The first time that Ralph was presented to me, an 
excursion to the Maison Carree was being planned. 
It was the custom of every tourist to make a visit 
to the long white walls of that grand building, that 
served as an advance post in the French army, 
and was reflected in the clear waters of the Aratck. 

The weather was superb. An autumn sun made 
the blue waves of the Mediterranean glitter, while 

lO 



146 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

a gay wind sung in the branches of the palm trees. 
At the Trois-Lucs, I was mounted on donkeys, at 
** La Guerine " only on mules. When I found my- 
self on the back of Ralph, I was much embarrassed. 
Ralph understood this, and profited by it to play 
me many wicked tricks. 

The cavalcade, numbering about a dozen cava- 
liers, being started, his first care was to carry me 
at full gallop towards the sea, whose shores we 
skirted. His frolicsome gallop scarcely marked 
the fine sand. In vain I pulled the reins to the 
right and to the left, Ralph kept on his course 
directly towards the waves that spread their white 
foam upon the beach. His hoofs soon touched 
the shining fringe. He placed his feet resolutely 
upon it, and entered the water. I raised mine, he 
went farther into the water, and a wave touched 
the stirrups. 

My friends rode on, without concerning them- 
selves about me, and Ralph continued to advance. 
Had I to do with a marine monster disguised as a 



HUNTER AND RALPH. 1 47 

horse ? A vague inquietude, the uneasiness of a 
man who does not wish to take a bath all dressed, 
possessed me. Ralph, who scented the salt odor 
of the tide, did he wish to make me take a course 
of swimming? The water then beat against his 
breast. 

A quick movement and our separation would 
have been accomplished. I held myself balanced 
in the saddle ; suddenly Ralph appeared to return 
to a better frame of mind. He lashed the foam 
with his tail, and regained the shore with a gentle 
trot, contenting himself this time with drenching 
me by the aid of salt water-spouts, that each 
bound sent up as far as my shoulders. 

Hardly had he planted his four legs upon the 
firm ground, than he started on a round gallop, 
without forewarning me. This pretext was to 
regain the time that he had lost. His real reason 
was to jolt me. He only succeeded too well. It 
took me a whole week to lose the memory of that 
insane race. 



148 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

From that day, Ralph gave me an idea of his 
detestable character. Suddenly, while going at an 
even pace, he would make great leaps that would 
shake you from head to foot. Excess of gayety ? 
some said — not at all, it was to unhorse you. On 
these occasions I clung like a coward to the mane 
of the animal, or to the pommel of the saddle. 

When he crossed a river (and at that time few 
of the water-courses that traversed Algeria were 
provided with bridges), Ralph bent his knees, 
under the pretext of drinking more conveniently, 
and if one did not startle him by a good blow of 
the whip, he would try to roll over in the water as 
a donkey does in the dust in hot weather. Ralph 
wished us to believe it was to refresh himself, in 
truth, it was to drown us. A horseman the less, 
so much gain for him. 

At that time, I had taken lodgings in a great 
Moorish villa, somewhat shattered by bullets, but 
very elegant, and whose central part was covered 
by a dome of fine sculpture, sustained by six col- 



HUNTER AND RALPH. 1 49 

umns of white marble, alternately wreathed and 
fluted in an exquisite manner. 

Two Dutchmen, friends of mine, had under- 
taken to carry on a farm at Ouled-el-Hachach. 
They established a livery-stable there as well as a 
farm. Ralph there met with Hunter. 

Ralph was a little Arab, of a bay color, nervous, 
puffed up with malice, and who only dreamed of 
doing ill. He had a sullen eye, a restless tail; 
unhappily for his bad instincts, his ears betrayed 
him — one is never perfect — as soon as he was 
meditating a villainous trick, his angry ears were 
laid back upon his head, or crossed their points. 
It was necessary suddenly to put one's self on 
guard. 

Ralph was never more content than when l\e 
had succeeded in giving his rider a blow with his 
hoof at the moment when the latter approached to 
take the reins. He kicked like a cow, with a 
single foot, and darted his blow when one was 
putting the boot into the stirrup. 



l5o HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

The iron struck you squarely in the thigh or in 
the leg. How many times have I counted the 
nails marked in holes on my skin. The thing 
done, Ralph neighed in a clear and lively manner. 
It was his way of laughing. He served the 
grooms who tended him in the same manner. 

Very ticklish, he added bites to kicks when 
they passed the currycomb over his flank or spine. 
It was done if he had a chance to turn his head, 
then little shivers of joy ran through his body. 

This red devil had for a stable companion a 
horse of a European origin. Hunter was Irish 
and Christian, as Ralph was Arabian and Moham- 
medan. The principles in which they had been 
reared filled the one with gentleness, the other 
with fanaticism. 

Ralph, who detested everything that was not 
himself, abhorred Hunter, first, because he was a 
horse, then because he was a '' roumi '' — an infidel. 

Hence, perpetual treasons, and an enmity to 
which blows from a whip only could put an end. 



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HUNTER AND RALPH. l5l 

A movable beam separated their boxes at first, 
but It was necessary to replace this by a wall of 
solid plank. This was not enough. 

One morning, they found Hunter on one side, 
and Ralph on the other, each at one of the ends 
of the stable. They had changed stalls in conse- 
quence of that nocturnal pugilism. The sides 
were broken. 

One of the eyebrows of the poor Irishman was 
nearly torn off, and hung over the eye. Four or 
five bites had torn his skin, here and there, on 
the rump and the neck. 

Ralph bore on his sides and his shoulders the 
imprint of two large horse-shoes, whose nails were 
indented in his flesh, as a seal is imbedded in the 
wax. He trembled in all his limbs. 

'' It was Ralph; who commenced it," said a 
groom to me, who answered to the name of 
Kadom. 

'' He break all, he goes at him, the wicked one," 
said he to me, laughing. 



1 52 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

Kadom always laughed. 

** But if Ralph broke everything to fight his 
comrade, if Ralph is wicked, if it is he who does 
all the evil, why hast thou not prevented him ?" 

'' It was night, me not move in the night ; me 
sleep.'' 

Kadom let it alone, that was his philosophy. If 
I had talked for fifteen days with him, I should 
have got nothing from him but '' me sleep." 

He took Hunter by the bridle to lead him to his 
place ; in passing near Ralph, Hunter gave him a 
caress with his nose. He bore no malice. Good 
beast ! 

Ralph, on the contrary, snorted ; he bore in his 
heart the kicks that he had received on his haunches 
and his shoulders. 

Hunter Avas large, solid, vigorous. He was a 
brown bay, and on his lustrous coat, were large 
dappled spots of a darker shade. In Ireland, his 
native country, he had been a great hunter. I do 
not know what chance had brought him to Algiers, 



HUNTER AND RALPH. ID3 

where he at first belonged to a captain of African 
chasseurs. 

The first time that I decided to mount Hunter, 
I needed the assistance of a horse-block to reach 
the stirrup. Seated on his large back, I was like 
a shuttlecock on a battledore. He had a thunder- 
ing trot. Never any fatigue. He rushed up the 
side of a hill like a train of cars, and having arrived 
at the summit, did not even pant. He had lungs 
of iron. 

One day, seized by a whim, I bethought my- 
self of exploring the plain Sahel, in a country in- 
tersected by valleys and hills, carpeted with thick 
copse, and here and there covered with a strong 



grass. 



Hunter believed himself at the chase. He raised 
his head, and started on a gallop, — a gallop that 
leaped over ten metres of turf at each bound. 

A ditch presented itself: Hunter pointed his 
ears, and, without slackening his speed, cleared it 
with a spring. But the shock had unhorsed me, 



1 54 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

and in placing his strong fore-feet on the other 
side of the ditch, the Irishman appeared much sur- 
prised to find me extended my whole length on 
a bed of soft turf. I had rolled over his neck and 
his ears. 

He stopped short, looked at me, bent down his 
head, and sniffing, seemed to say to me : 

'' Poor fellow ! if I had only known !" 

I was only a little -bruised, and drawing him near 
a wild olive-tree, I could, by the aid of a stump, 
climb again into the saddle. The second time he 
took precautions in leaping the ditch. 

Another adventure happened to me with Hunt- 
er. Being on a ramble in the Sahel, one even- 
ing in the spring, at the moment when he crossed 
a desert plateau, over which mastic-trees were 
scattered, he stopped short, as if I had pulled the 
bridle suddenly. 

'' Well! what is the matter?'' said I to him. 

His whole body trembled, and his ears in the 
air, he looked before him. 



HUNTER AND RALPH. 1 55 

At this moment, a superb animal, whose tail 
lashed the air, rushed out from the middle of a 
thicket, and started off on a gallop, bounding with 
an elastic grace over the small bushes. 

It was a panther. I had recognized her by the 
black marks that spotted her skin of dirty white. 

A panther at liberty, is pretty, but might be dis- 
agreeable. What character had this specimen of 
the feline race whom Ihad drawn from his slum- 
bers ? 

I had no arms but my whip. Hunter had taken 
root in the ground. His flanks were distended by 
his great panting respirations. The panther, with- 
out hastening, continued her bounds across the 
plain; she had, without doubt, breakfasted well, 
and knew at whose expense she could dine. 

And then I was thin. It was this perhaps that 
saved me. Her course carried her from me. I 
had not for an instant the idea of pursuing her. 

In retaking the road to Ouled-el-Hachach, it ap- 
peared to me that Hunter, uneasy, looked on all 



1 56 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

sides. The great bushes became objects of suspi- 
cion to him. He went round them. 

Another time, in this part of the Sahel, in which 
the Douera descends towards the plain of the 
Mitidja, at sunset, in the middle of summer, I 
perceived on the crest of a hill the outline of three 
or four Hadjonte cavaliers, who seemed to consult 
together. Their long guns thrown across the 
burnous floating on their shoulders, traced black 
lines on the luminous background of the heavens. 

They saw^ me. One of them pointed me out 
with his hand to his companions. The country 
was a desert. It was a prey who passed by. The 
first leaped his horse over the steep declivity of the 
hill, and the others followed him. 

The sign of course of this* manoeuvre could not 
escape me. I slackened Hunter's rein, and made 
him feel lightly the point of the spur. He drew up 
his legs suddenly, comprehending that something 
extraordinary had happened. 

Brave horse ! how he ran ! 



HUNTER AND RALPH. 1 5; 

The Hadjontes relied upon barring my road, by 
cutting across a shorter one, but I turned the angle 
of the route before they had finished the descent of 
the hill at the foot of which the road stretched out 
its yellow line. 

Then, what a race ! I had a hundred steps in 
advance of the Arabian horsemen, when I heard 
the hard ground resound under their pursuit. I 
hazarded a look behind. Standing up in their high 
saddles, they hastened, with the sides of their stir- 
rups, the speed of their horses. 

I had no arms — always my whip. I laid it on 
the neck of Hunter. Then, what a sudden bound. 
I knew his gallop — long, equal, sustained. 

'* On ! on ! " said I to him. 

This contest lasted several minutes. 

'' If he stumbles,'' said I to myself, ''my head 
will be cut off." 

This reflection did not enliven me. The distance 
for some time maintained between the Arabs and 
me finally increased. I gained ground visibly. 



1 58 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

Suddenly a shout resounded, and a ball, plough- 
ing the road, raised a little cloud of dust four steps 
from me. Then came another, not more accurate. 

It was the adieu of the Hadjontes. The noise of 
their infernal gallop soon vanished away. I turned 
in my saddle. They were riding away, in the 
opposite direction. 

Ah ! I caressed Hunter's neck with my hand, and 
that evening he had- double rations. I wished to 
give it to him myself. What good friends we 
were ! 

The panthers in the thickets, and the Arabs on 
the hills, were not the only adventures that we had. 
Too often repeated, they rendered the environs of 
Ouled-el-Hachach uninhabitable. 

Hunter had a rival. It was a great chestnut 
horse, English by birth, who rested his reputation 
upon his trotting. 

As soon as Hunter recognized Fox, a race was 
organized between them. The horses did not con- 
sult their riders. Hupp ! it was necessary to go. 



HUNTER AND RALPH. l5g 

It was a question of nation. Ireland against 
England. 

There was never any conqueror. The length of 
the head sometimes to the advantage of Hunter, 
sometimes in the favor of Fox. Ralph, furious, 
would gallop at the side of them, putting out all 
his powers. 

One must say, in praise of Ralph, if he was lazy 
as a dormouse, he was sober as an ass ; he had 
also a donkey's obstinacy. Everything was good 
to him for fodder, the tough leaves of the palmetto, 
the bitter stalks of the lentiac or of the wild olive, 
the bark of trees, the peel of oranges. 

On a journey, he walked as much as he could, 
sulky and in ill-humor ; caressed by a switch, he 
went for a long time at a good pace, but woe to 
the rider if he left that leathern argument at the 
lodge. No reasoning, no prayer moved Ralph. 
He marched with calm gait, joyously rivalling the 
tortoise. 

One night, taking a ride in the environs of 



l6o HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

• 

Delhi- Ibrahim, I was all at once shaken in my sad- 
dle by abominable yelpings, that issued from the 
thickets. Dark shadows were thrown here and 
there on the white line of the road. I found myself 
in the midst of a band of jackals on an expedition. 
Ralph neighed with joy. He felt himself among 
compatriots not less savage and not less deceitful 
than himself. 

Nothing could force him to a gallop, and that 
infernal concert ! All the jackals shrieked at once. 
Perhaps Ralph hoped that the desire of tasting 
the flesh of a Christian, would come to them. 
They passed on, and out of spite, he began to 
kick. 

I could not always sow the oats and mow the 
hay in Algiers. It was necessary to return to 
France. I separated myself from Hunter. My 
heart was full on the evening when I bade himi 
adieu, with many embraces. That evening it rained 
a true deluge. 

I have been told recently that Hunter, become 



HUNTER AND RALPH. l6l 

old, draws the plough, and does the work of two 
or three horses. 

Honest horse ! He will live honestly even till 
his latest hour. 

As to Ralph, he was captured by the Hadjontes 
one night, in a raid made against the cattle of Ouled- 
el-Hachach. I always thought that he did it on pur- 
pose. The knave would not have been sorry to 
return among his co-religionists — bandits among 
bandits. 

He will be killed some day in a pillage. 



COSSACK. 

If there exists a Paradise for dogs, Cossack 
should enjoy it. 

He was frolicsome, good-natured, playful, a little 
rakish, and self-forgetful in his plays, but brave 
as a soldier. 

When I first knew Cossack he had not attained 
his full growth. 

From the Pyrenees, he had mastiff blood in his 
veins, with a thick skin, long tail, stout paws, heavy 
neck and shoulders, jaws that would defy a wolfs 
tusks, a deep chest, gray coat, and white belly. 

The two horses. Hunter and Ralph, were his 
intimate friends ; and he always slept in their 
stable, but never interfered in their private affairs 
and quarrels. 

When the two horses were on the move, Cos- 
sack would run in front, leaping up to their noses 
and barking with all his might. You might have 







CnS'^ACK, 



COSSACK. 163 

thought he wanted to eat them right up, although 
he would not have given them a bite for the world. 
But Hunter and Ralph were accustomed to this, 
and were only amused by his gambols. They 
lowered their heads, neighed, watched his grimaces, 
and trotted on unconcernedly. 

Cossack leaped, fell back, ran, whipped the air 
with his tail, leaped • again, and barked without 
ceasing. 

These three. Hunter, Ralph, and Cossack, were 
everywhere, like school-boys in vacation, and made 
a ofreat deal of noise. 

Cossack performed all his duties conscientiously. 
He slept like a dormouse, eat like a wolf, ran like 
a hare, and fought like a lion. Withal, he was 
gentle as a lamb. If by chance any one molested 
him, he could be a perfect tiger. 

I always thought that Cossack must have some 
drops of quicksilver in his body. He was up the 
first, and to bed. the last in the house; and was 
still no minute, from morning until night. 



164 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

The house was a Moorish villa, transformed into 
a farm in the middle of Algeria, for the purposes 
of colonization. 

Cossack had, for pastime, declared war against a 
troop of red and dun cows which pastured without 
restraint on the little hills of that part of Algeria. 

He amused himself by teasing them. 

Sometimes after breakfast we saw him set off on 
full gallop, with his tail streaming in the wind, and 
barking as though he had lungs of iron, and we 
always knew what this meant. 

Soon after, bounding through the thickets of 
dwarf palms and of lentisks, Cossack came in sight 
of the cattle, seeking innocently the meagre grass, 
and clipping it without thought of danger. 

The drove raised their heads ; the more know- 
ing among the cattle ranged themselves side by 
side, and presented to him a front of menacing 
horns. But even this wise order of battle did not 
always save them. 

Cossack was generally skillful enough to sepa- 



COSSACK. 1 65. 

rate one unwary one from the drove, and a duel 
followed. 

The bull tried to seize the dog with the end of 
his sharp horns, or to crush him under his feet. 
But the quickness of his charges, and violence of 
his attacks were of no avail. 

The horns only struck into vacancy, the feet 
only trampled the ground. 

Cossack, light as a monkey, came and went, 
bounded, dipped to the ground, turned about, 
darted from the left to the right side of the crea- 
ture, from the head to the tail, and back again, 
and. always finished by snapping with his teeth one 
of the ears of the bull with which he was engaged. 
Except for this ear, he did not bite the beast. 

yhe poor thing raised his head, and with it Cos- 
sack, suspended as a spider at the end of a thread. 

When the bull, wearied out, lowered his fore- 
head, Cossack, regaining his feet, drew him along 
by quick jerks. The bull, already half conquered, 
followed ; and Cossack, who had his own ideas, 



1 66 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

led him gently to the edge of a ravine. He had the 
malice to choose one with a steep declivity, and the 
bull, who distrusted the intentions of his enemy, 
from what he had seen or from what he had heard 
from his comrades, buttressed himself on his limbs, 
and attempted a desperate defence. But he was 
overborne. The persistency of the dog was too 
much for him. Teeth proved more powerful than 
horns. 

The battle ended by the fall of the bull, who, 
losing foot-hold, glided down the slope of the 
ravine heavily, stopped sometimes by bushes, but 
nevertheless rolling to the bottom ; while the dog, 
seated calmly on the edge of the ravine, watched 
his descent. 

A little motion of his tail expressed the pleasure 
he felt at the sight. Every day he indulged in a 
similar performance. He w^ould not have consid- 
ered a day well-spent, in which he had not sent one 
of the cattle rolling down the ravine. 

Besides this love of fighting, Cossack had an- 



COSSACK. 167 

Other mania, intense hatred against beggars and 
Arabs. 

At this time, in Algeria, a beggar was almost the 
^ same as a thief, and an Arab the same as an enemy. 

Of course Cossack understood this. He gave 
such a one chase as soon as he saw him in the 
neighborhood of the house. 

They soon learned to know him, and as they did 
not enjoy feeling two rows of teeth in them that 
did not mean play, Arabs and beggars learned to 
avoid passing the lands of Ouled-el-Hachach. 

One day, a prowler, who was making a collection 
of colored handkerchiefs, for which some black 
odalisk had perhaps a fancy, espied a beautiful one 

of red foulard lying on the grass to dry, took it 

« 

slyly, and slipping it under his cloak, scampered 
off. Unfortunately for him, Cossack returned at 
this moment from his expedition against the cattle, 
in high spirits, after his usual victory. 

Some one pointed out the fugitive, crying, 

Cossack ! sis ! sis ! 



1 68 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

Cossack did not wait to be called twice. Set- 
ting off on a gallop, in four bounds, he fell on 
the shoulders of the robber, knocking him to the 
ground, with his nose in the dirt. 

When he felt this terrible beast on his back, the 
Arab began to howl. 

Cossack, who Avas annoyed by so much noise, 
took him by the throat, and closed his teeth. The 
Arab suddenly became silent, and grew first pale, 
then almost blue. If it had not been for the thick- 
ness of his woollen comforter, I believe he would 
have become black. 

The man who was employed as shepherd at 
Ouled-el-Hachach, and who was strong as a Turk, 
ran up, delivered the Arab from the clutches 
of Cossack, and with a little extra punishment, set 
him free. He never reappeared, '' Kelb kebir ! " 
he cried, while fleeing, V* Kelb kebir ! '' 

And he looked at the great dog, who was still 
growling, and quite ready to begin again. 

From that day, Cossack was a terror to the 



COSSACK. 169 

Arabs of the country round. When one of them 
met him on the road, he would trace a half circle 
around himself, and murmur, '' Kelb kebir." 

At this time, I was a ''mighty hunter before the 
Lord." This was a passion that I had had when 
still very small. The jackals prowled by hun- 
dreds among the hills of the country, and at night 
they made an infernal concert about the house. 
The opportunity was too good not to be made 
use of. 

A great hedge, made of olives, cactus, aloes, and 
bushes of all sorts, extending along a ridge of earth, 
had been just the place for me to establish an am- 
bush, where, by means of some dead animal, goat 
or sheep, I had the pleasure of attracting the 
Jackals, too ready to run to destruction. One even- 
ing I lay in ambush, and for bait the body of a 
donkey was dimly seen against the brown earth. 

The sky was partly light, partly dark, while the 
moon occasionally showed her light, and then was 
obscured by the clouds, of which great masses, by 



I70 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

turns opaque or transparent, moved heavily across 
the sky. 

One jackal came, then two, then three. I heard 
their sharp yelpings, I distinguished their moving 
forms, then it became too dark for me to be able 
to point my gun. 

Suddenly a harsh cry burst on the night, and all 
was hushed about the dead donkey. The moon 
shone out an instant. The jackals had disap- 
peared. 

I looked with all my eyes. The great, harsh, 
and deep cry sounded nearer. I raised the muzzle 
of my gun, expecting soon to see the animal to 
which it belonged. 

The moon again hid its light, leaving the hedge 
in darkness. 

Suddenly a savage sniffling could be heard in 
the neighborhood of the bait, which was imme- 
diately followed by a crunching of bones by strong 
jaws. I could only distinguish the black mass 
of the dead donkey bathed in the obscurity, 



COSSACK. 171 

and a dim shadow, which seemed moving about 
it. I took aim, but the moon was overclouded 
again, and all became dark. 

I grew a little nervous. The sniffling and 
crunching continued, then, at intervals, profound 
stillness. 

The animal seemed to stop and meditate. 
It was surely scenting the air. But the strong 
odor emanating from the dead donkey pre- 
vented it from scenting the living human flesh. 
So, reassured, it resumed its supper. 

A great, great cloud still held the moon prison- 
er. The darkness was dense, and the watch-dogs 
began to yelp and howl as they never had yelped 
or howled before. 

What should be done ? The unknown animal 
who was feeding upon the donkey, suddenly took 
it into its head to retire into the hedge as into a 
fort, but without leaving the prey. The sound of 
a body being dragged over the earth by jerks 
made me understand this. 



172 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

I distinguished, when it passed by, the shadow 
which moved over the earth, then the curtain of 
foliage inclosing the hedge was pushed aside, and 
the sniffling and crunching began again, right 
in my vicinity, hardly twenty feet off. 

To remain quietly in my hole, was to expose 
myself to the sudden attack of the beast, should 
the wind change, and by revealing my presence to 
give it a desire to taste fresh meat. 

I had, indeed, by excess of precaution, a pair of 
pistols with me. But what reliance could be placed 
on a pair of small pistols, and a hunting gun loaded 
with number four bullets. 

If I went out, I ran the risk of having two pairs 
of claws on my neck before having a chance to use 
my arms. 

The more I thought about it, the more perplexed 
I grew. The dogs continued their howling, and I 
realized how imprudent I had been to put myself 
in ambush on a dark night in a savage country. 
Suddenly the rampart of branches which protected 



COSSACK. 173 

me were pushed aside, a warm breath passed over 
my face, and I felt a velvet skin rubbing against 
my cheek. 

My blood stood still ; never in my life had I felt 
such terror. 

The thought that I was going to be devoured 
crossed my mind ; devoured alive ! 

But it was the good Cossack. 

He had broken his chain and come to my assist- 
ance ; and how I hugged him. 

On the arrival of Cossack, silence fell upon the 
hedge, but he growled low and showed his teeth. 

With Cossack by my side, I ventured out of my 
den, holding my gun with one hand, and with the 
other my brave dog by the collar. 

The beast, crouching in the hedge, did not stir ; 
neither did I hear the sound of his teeth or his 
jaws any more. 

I called as I drew near the house. The howls 
of the dogs had finally awakened the farmer (who 
slept always with clenched fists) and the friend 



174 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

with whom I was living, and who did not under- 
stand the cause of the infernal racket. 

They came out with some servants, all armed 
to the teeth, believing that a band of Arabs had 
attacked Ouled-el-Hachach. 

At the head of this little army, I directed my 
steps towards the hedge. Cossack, who was held 
in leash, had his hair bristling, and pulled on his 
collar, wishing to precipitate himself into the 
thicket. 

It Avould have been imprudent to make a gen- 
eral discharge. We might only wound the animal, 
who, furious, might throw himself upon us un- 
awares. The night had grown still darker. 

The farmer counselled a retreat. This was in 
fact the wisest course ; and we returned, dragging 
Cossack, who wished to give battle, and appeared 
to regret the loss of such a chance of being torn to 
pieces by great teeth. 

I tried to make him understand that his honor 
was untouched, since battle had been offered to the 



COSSACK. 175 

unknown beast, and it was the beast who refused 
to come forth, but he refused to be consoled. 

The next day, with the dawn, we ran to the 
hedge, with Cossack at the head of the party. 

There were large foot-prints on the moist earth, 
where could be seen the excoriations made by 
nails, showing where the beast had passed. 

The foot-prints went from the place where the 
dead donkey had been left, to the thicket, where 
pieces of broken bones, scattered about, covered 
the ground. 

These marks, which were lost in a neighboring 
copse, were those of a panther ! 

Cossack was not allowed to follow them. He 
had a fondness for wandering. If he had been a 
man, he would have been a Mungo Park or a 
Livingstone. Being a dog, he was but an adven- 
turer. 

Kindness, friends, shelter, good food and bed, — 
nothing would keep him at home. He liked to 
see the country. All the neighboring encamp- 



1/6 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

ments of the chasseurs were known to him ; he 
would go from camp to camp, and was greatly 
flattered by the attentions that he received from 
the red pantaloons. 

''Here! Cossack!" called one zouave. 

''Ah! there is Cossack!" said another. 

And he was a good comrade with all. What 
made him more regular in his escapades was that 
he had made the acquaintance of a female grey- 
hound, which belonged to a squadron of African 
chasseurs encamped at Maha-el-Ma. 

There is no great distinction between dog and 
man, so Cossack became the friend of the chas- 
seurs, and they made quite a fete when they saw 
him coming with tongue hanging, and all out of 
breath. 

One day when they were starting on some ex- 
pedition, the commander, who had often noticed 
Cossack about the camp, beckoned to him and 
said, 

" Will you come, Cossack ?'' 



COSSACK. 177 

Cossack wagged his tail, barked and followed. 
There was a skirmish in which Cossack showed 
that he was not afraid of fire. 

These absences of Cossack lasted three, five, 
eight days, according to the weather or the en- 
counters. He never told where he had been, but 
he always returned to his home. Then what 
pleasure he expressed by bounds and caresses. 
But he was generally very thin, and covered with 
scratches. His ears and sides bore the marks of 
many battles, in which he had lost hair and skin. 
On these occasions Cossack seemed at a loss how 
to express his affection for me ; he could only let 
himself be embraced. 

'' Take care, Cossack,'' I said to him, '' take 
care ! you run away too much, and you will come 
to harm." 

Then Cossack would gambol about me, bark, 
and run to the kitchen, explaining by pantomime 
that be preferred a good meal to a long discourse. 

The next day, like a worthy dog who respects 



178 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

his own habits, he would return to the cattle, and 
announce his return by long barking, to which the 
drove responded by bellowings which seemed to 
say : 

'' Which of us will be the next victim ? " 

At the end of a month or six weeks, Cossack, 
in good condition again, fat, with shining coat and 
hair regrown, felt the need of travelling once 
more. He showed this by his behavior. Seated 
before the door, he would watch dreamily the 
cavaliers who passed along the road. 

One morning he had disappeared. Good-bye, 
Cossack. When he returns this time, vv^ill he 
look forlorn or contented ? 

One day, at about sunset, Cossack returned to 
Ouled-el-Hachach. I perceived him on a stone 
bridge which crossed a little stream. It seemed 
to me that he dragged his paw. I called him, 
and was answered by a friendly but plaintive 
bark. 

'^Well! what is it? What is the matter?'' I 



COSSACK. 179 

said to him when he came up, not galloping and 
joyful and wagging his tail as usual, but walking 
slowly, sadly, with hanging head. When he was 
near me, Cossack started, licked my hands and 
crouched at my feet. 

-He was dejected and exhausted, with one ear 
torn, and on one side a deep hole, from which 
flowed a stream of blood. The poor dog panted, 
and rested his good great head on my hands. What 
had happened to him ? Where had he received 
that wound ? Food was offered to him, which he 
would not touch, — and a cup of water. Of the 
water he drank some swallows, dropped his head 
between my knees, shuddered and died. 

He owed his death to his too great love for war. 



MATAPON THE FIRST. 

I SAY Matapon the First, because he was the first 
of his race as well as the most illustrious. 

Matapon was a superb, majestic cat, knowing 
his good points very well too ; a little proud, and 
suffering familiarity only from persons well dressed. 
He had, besides, a host of qualities which he 
displayed without any modesty. Seated on a 
cushion which was his own, in the corner of the 
fire-place, which place he loved, as all cats do, 
Matapon, in his ermine robe, had the air of a 
great bishop meditating. 

Although he lived in Germany when I knew 
him, Matapon was French by birth ; all the 
habitues of the Avenue de Lichtenthal, in Baden, 
knew him. At that time the w^ar had not hol- 
lowed out between the two countries a river of 
blood deeper than the Rhine. 



MATAPON THE FIRST. l8l 

Matapon would wander under the catalpas, 
and He on the grass-plots of a certain hospitable 
house, well knovm to Prussians. 

The Empress Augusta, who was then the Queen 
Augusta, admired him, and he deigned to allow 
her to < caress him with her royal hands. Now he 
would not permit every one to come near him, so 
this was a mark of extraordinary favor. 

Grand gentleman as he was, Matapon was also 
a great hunter. The house where he had been 
brought up as a kitten, together with a young snow- 
white female cat, whom he afterwards married, 
was, being very old, overrun with mice. These 
mice felt quite at home, and increased and multi- 
plied freely in a great garret. 

When Matapon was little, he respected and 
slightly feared them, but having increased in size 
and strength, one morning he declared war, and 
his claws made a general massacre. The garret, 
which had been a place of delight for the tribe, 
became a field of carnage, there was no hole or 



1 82 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

cra:nny safe from the pursuit of Matapon, no 
stratagems could protect his foes. 

Like that cat powdered with flour, in the fairy 
tale, Matapon, all clothed in white, posted himself 
in a corner, with one claw half raised, and his eye 
fixed on a crack where his subtle sense of smell 
detected the presence of a member of the small 
race. Hour after hour would he remain in this 
position, from morning until evening. He disre- 
garded the promptings of hunger as well as those 
of fatigue. Immovable, he had the appearance of 
a plaster cat, except that from beneath his lowered 
lids a light shone. The mouse, crying famine, 
ventured out of her hiding-place, and then 
Matapon made but one bound before it hung 
between his teeth, showing the black whiskers 
against his red nose. Such a victory filled Mata- 
pon with pride. 

When a mouse was captured, Matapon gener- 
ally descended to his mistress, to exhibit the result 
of his prowess. If he could not find her, he car- 




MAT A PON THE FIRST. 



MATAPON THE FIRST. 1 83 

ried his trophy to the cook, whom he respected be- 
cause she had the care of his food. 

The mice, careful as they were of their persons, 
could not last for ever, and one day Matapon 
looked very anxious. He wandered from cellar 
to garret, up and down stairs, searched all the 
closets, went from kitchen to servants' hall, and 
thrust his nose into every hole with a puzzled air. 

What was the matter with Matapon ? 

There were no more mice. 

What should he do ? 

His appetite and his love of sport suffered 
alike, but at last an idea came to Matapon. With 
a light foot he descended the steps before the 
house, and glided into a clump of dahlias, which 
grew in the centre of a piece of grass. There he 
lay in ambush, and what he expected took place. 
A field-mouse issued from her hole to seek her 
fortune. She found Matapon, who at once 
snapped her up. After that, Matapon's spirits 
returned. He lit upon swarms of field-mice, 



184 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

and his feline science discovered no difference be- 
tween them and house-mice. 

But sometimes it rained, and Matapon objected 
to getting wet. Now it is impossible to hunt among 
clumps of grass laden with rain-drops, without 
receiving a shower-bath. But a new idea sprang 
in Matapon's fertile brain. He would re-stock the 
house with mice. 

The first day that he appeared with a field-mouse 
in his mouth, all the servants screamed, and when 
he gravely set it on its feet, there was a general 
scamper. . 

But this terror made no impression on the mind 
of Matapon. 

He returned to the dahlias, caught another field- 
mouse and brought it carefully to the house, where 
he set it free. 

Thus one by one he repeopled the garret with 
mice, and he could enjoy the chase in comfort on 
wet days. 

The living provision exhausted, he knew how to 



MATAPON THE FIRST. 1 85 

renew it, and no one could make him understand 
that this was against the rules. 

He saw the cook put chickens on the spit, and 
the mistress put her silk bobbins into her basket, 
why should he not do what he pleased with his 
mice ? Each one has a right to his own. 

Matapon was a cat of regular habits. In the 
evening when the moon was bright, he hunted ; 
in morning when it was cold, he slept ; and on mild 
days he took his walks. 

He was a living chronometer in regard to the 
breakfast and supper hour. Never five minutes 
late, for he had a punctual appetite. 

If, by chance, Matapon forgot himself in his 
absences, his mistress had only to go to the top of 
the house steps and to call, '' Come quickly ! " in a 
sort of sharp, quick tone, and a white phantom could 
be seen at once running from some part of the 
garden and jumping on his mistress. His mistress 
used to say affectionately that her cat was like a 
dog. 



1 86 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

Matapon not only enjoyed the august favors of a 
queen, he Hved on terms of famiHarity with a prin- 
cess also. 

There was a neighboring villa, whose coquettish 
architecture crowned a little hill, where it was half 
hidden by climbing plants. A Russian princess 
inhabited this villa, and Matapon had made her 
acquaintance. Two or three times a week he 
invited himself to breakfast with her. 
* Exactly at eleven, he always arrived, with his 
tail straight, and licking his whiskers in anticipation 
of the expected dainties. 

The servant, who was used to his ways, pushed 
a chair towards the table and arranged a place for 
Matapon, who in a dignified manner seated him- 
self beside the princess, and was received with a 
thousand caresses. He responded by purrs, and 
enjoyed his breakfast. 

When the princess was from home Matapon 
walked round the table, looked at everything, and 
went away. He was not a cat who would allow 



MATAPON THE FIRST. 1 8/ 

himself to pass for a parasite. But, when Matapon 
thus lost his breakfast, he revenged himself on the 
field-mice. The excitements of the chase must 
make amends for the missing delicacies. 

Matapon was not a warlike character, but he 
was brave, and he would not tolerate familiarity 
from strange animals. If any dog, be it greyhound 
or spaniel, took any liberties with him, he would 
soon recall them to their senses by little scratches, 
in dealing which his velvet paw was changed into 
a tigerish one. 

The dog howled, and before he had time to re- 
venge himself, Matapon would be in the topmost 
branches of .the nearest tree, hidden by the foliage. 

I have hinted that Matapon was married. He 
had married in Germany a cat born in Paris, and 
not less w^hite than himself. 

Of course, we called her Matapone. 

She was as pretty as he was handsome, and 
graceful as he was magnificent, but she had curious 
eyes, one yellow and one green. 



1 88 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

It was very evident that Matapone was a born 
Parisian, there never was a cat so coquettish, capri- 
cious, mincing, nervous, dainty, and tyrannical. 

If Matapon was her master, she let it be known 
that she was mistress of his household. He did 
absolutely all that she wished. This state of affairs 
dated from the day when they met in the same 
basket. 

Matapon, great and strong as he was, never 
dared to touch his food or dip his tongue in his 
cup of milk until Matapone had tasted first. 

It was curious to see how she called him from 
the distance only by turning towards him one of 
her eyes, either the yellow or green one, and how 
she would give him a little scratch when she wished 
to send him off. 

Matapon would hunt and Matapone would worry 
the mice. 

She was always nervous and impatient when the 
weather changed. 

Under these circumstances I should not dare to 



MATAPON THE FIRST. 1 89 

say that she beat her husband. He never whis- 
pered that she did. 

Every morning, as soon as his mistress's door 
was open, Matapon paid her a visit, and leaped 
upon her bed ; Matapone, more independent, dis- 
pensed with such attentions. 

One night a great event took place. Matapone 
presented the world with half a dozen kittens. 

Matapon could not contain himself for joy ; he 
was father of a family, and intended that all the 
world should know it. Suddenly he rushed to 
his mistress, who was in bed, and leaping upon her, 
began to rub his nose on her shoulder and arm, 
moving his tail in the meantime like a monkey, 
and in a state of feverish excitement. Then he 
would suddenly leap to the ground, only to climb 
again upon the bed. 

Astonished by this pantomime, that accorded ill 
with his usual grave manners, his mistress asked 
him what was the matter. '' Tell me ! Matapon/' 
said she. 



I90 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

Matapon took his course and returned two min- 
utes after, bearing in his mouth a Httle kitten, 
white as milk, that he deposited gravely on the 
bed of his mistress. 

" See!" he seemed to say, " I am a father!" 
"Oh! ho!" said she. 

Delighted, he set off again and returned with 
another little kitten, which he placed by its brother. 
" Stop!" said she. 

Matapon made but one bound, and a third kitten 
appeared by the side of the two others. 

So on until the sixth. Then stopped, and sit- 
ting up, contemplated, by turns, his mistress and his 
young family with pride and affection. 

His eyes expressed the idea that it is magnifi- 
cent to have six children, that many men could 
not say as much, and he was but a simple cat. 

By a miracle, in the midst of these milk-white 
kittens, appeared one the color of soot, one ball 
black as charcoal among five balls white as snow. 
Whence came this negro ? Matapon, who was a 



MATAPON THE FIRST. I9I 

good father, seemed to find it very natural. He 
licked and caressed the blackamoor equally with 
his brothers. 

The presentation accomplished, he took his 
children by the neck gently, and carried them one 
bygone back to Matapone, for whom a bed had 
been prepared in the garret, consisting of a box 
nicely filled with rags. Now was the time to 
show her despotic temper, for how could a hus- 
band refuse anything to the mother of six chil- 
dren, and Matapone abused her privileges. 

From this moment Matapon had more scratches 
than caresses ; she led him an uneasy life, which 
he, patient fellow, did not resent. 

When she was tired of nursing her progeny, 
rolled up under her warm stomach, she had a way 
of miauling that had all the impertinence of a ring 
of the bell. 

This miauling was a command. Matapon must 
leave everything — -breakfast, hunt, or sleep. If he 
did not respond to this call with docile prompt- 



192 HISTORY OF MY FRIENDS. 

ness, Matapone would punish him with a couple of 
slaps. After which he was invited to take his 
wife's place ; he curved his back and lay down. 

The little ones gathered under his fur, tried 
bravely to continue their meal, but without profit, 
he watching them as if to say, ''Oh, they are so 
young, they know nothing.'' 

On her return, Matapone, refreshed and rested, 
sent him off with a slap of her claw. This was 
her way of thanking him, and Matapon, with ears 
lowered, but still proud of his paternity, went his 
way, beaten but content. 

He counted on revenge when the kittens' edu- 
cation should commence, and one day, when he 
considered them of an age to understand, he 
brought a living mouse and threw it into their 
midst, where they were playing, rolled together in 
one ball, from which issued feet and tails. All six 
took to flight. 

Matapon, who remembered his own youth, did 
not scold, but tried again next day. After two 



MATAPON THE FIRST. 1 93 

days, the young family began to play with the 
mice, and at the end of a week chased them 
bravely. One evening, Matapon did not return. 
He was called and sought everywhere. The 
''Come, quickly!" of his mistress, repeated in the 
shrillest tone, brought no response. Matapon had 
disappeared and did not return. 

We always thought that he must have been 
carried away by some ambassador to whom his 
royal master had promised a b^dge of honor if he 
should bring Matapon to a young princess who 
had taken a fancy to him, and to whom we should 
have refused to sell him. Matapone, it must be 
confessed, did not exhibit any sadness at his loss. 
She was even married again, soon after, to a Ro- 
man cat, black and yellow, who had miauled in a 
neighboring chalet, and she had a swarm of varie- 
gated kittens, of whom the numerous posterity 
yet live. 

The portrait of ^ Matapon, embroidered on a 
cushion, was long preserved in the old house. 



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